The Dragon and The Phoenix
by Scarletstar20
Summary: While competing in the same tournament, Ghosts from the pasts of Lei Fang and Jann Lee come back to haunt them. Will Jann Lee be able to swallow his pride long enough to save his own neck and the life of his so called rival? A LeiJann story. R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Dead or Alive. Don't sue me.

Author's note: I wanted to write a more serious fic about some of the reasons behind Jann Lee and Lei fang's relationship. Enjoy!

Dragon and Phoenix: Chapter 1

The lobby was filled with would be hopefuls, registering, signing in, getting in to little tiffs with one another. It was all pathetically juvenile. Didn't these people realize no matter what they did, they would never make the finals? Those spots only belonged to the best of the best, and Jann Lee already knew who those would be. He shifted on the marble pillar he was leaning against to change his view, allowing him to clearly see the doors on both his right and left. He sighed disgustedly. The ninjas had arrived. Ayane came in first, dressed to fight in that same purple gi she always wore and looking like she was going to smash somebody's face in. Hayate followed slightly behind, laughing next to his smiling sister, Kasumi. He wonder vaguely if Ayane's look was based on there laughter. The cacophony of noise on his left him let him know that Zack and Tina had arrived, together, as they had been doing of late and it sounded like Zack was arguing with some of the new contenders.

"Jann? Is that you?" said a female voice behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. "It's been awhile since Germany, no?"

"Hitomi" he stated in acknowledgement. She smiled and came around to talk to him face to face.

"Didn't expect you to come, this isn't a dead or alive tourney." She noted, surveying the crowd along with him. "It's not as exclusive"

He shrugged, "I was bored"

"That's what you said and the tournament in Germany last year, you won that one, as my ribs recall" she laughed, there were obviously no hard feelings. "But it looks like you'll have a tougher time this time around."

Hyabyusa had appeared as if from nowhere next to Hayate. Christie and Bayman had just come in, lugging suspicious looking bags. There was a moment of mutual glares between the ninjas and the assassins. The glare was joined by Helena and Leon briefly. Then that Japanese girl with the long hair whose name he could never remember walked in with Gen fu and his apprentice. They were all chatting, when _she_ joined them. He breathed out unconsciously in relief, as if he almost hadn't expected her to show up. She looked well. She had been keeping up with her training; her quick calculating movements had shown him that. The ninjas greeted her and the assassian acknowledged her. She walked arm in arm with the Japanese girl laughing about nothing important.

_Lei Fang…_

Hitomi noticed his stare. She rolled her eyes inwardly.

"It looks like Kokoro and Lei Fang came to this one together," she prodded. He said nothing, not even a grunt.

"You're staring you know."

He blinked, and turned towards Hitomi, "If you have time to jump to conclusions, you have time to train harder. Or do you want me to break your ribs again?"

She shrugged. When dealing with Jan Lee, you got used to a certain amount of stoniness.

"Whatever, you know I can't understand this love hate relationship you two have. I promised Lei and Ko I would have lunch with them before we look at the match postings. I'll tell her you send your regards." Hitomi winked at him.

"What? Don't!" he shouted too late, she had already vanished into the crowd.

Foolish girl, why did he even associate with her? She just didn't understand at all.

* * *

_Hong Kong, China, 10 years ago_

"_I win again," Lao zhi laughed, pulling all coins that lay in the middle of the street towards him._

_You're cheating somehow, I know it! Qing growled under his breath. Jann Lee sat quietly biting his lip. Lou zhi always cheated, they knew that, but they didn't know that he how and if they ever figured it out his ass would be on the line. _

"_Sour grapes, Qing, so are you playing or paying?" Lou zhi burst brassily._

_Qing grumbled but went all in again. Jann relaxed. No, he didn't think they would ever figure it out._

"_Can I play?" A voice said. The game was momentarily hidden by a shadow in the alley. Jann looked up at her, the sun shining from behind her head made her look like an angel. From what he could see, she was a run of the mill kind of girl. Chubby cheeks, chubby arms, Big brown eyes, happy expression, hair done up in braids pinned to her head to keep them out of the way. The only thing he didn't understand was why she'd want in on a poker game._

"_Ewwwww…A girl!" Qing's compatriot, Xiao, spat in disgust. You aren't gonna let her play are ya, Lao?"_

_Lao looked side long at Jann, who shrugged her "a girl's money is as good as anyone else's." There was a shared gleam in their eyes, they were gonna take her to the cleaners. The girl, oblivious and overjoyed, sat down on the sidewalk, grime sticking to the part of her legs her skirt didn't cover. Wedging in between the boys, she plunked down her money as Jann Lee prepared to deal. He shuffled the cards with eyes closed, feeling the slight marks that he had made on each one with his fingers. He began to deal the cards, controlling what went to Lao, Qing, Xiao, himself, the girl and the others. He set it up that Qing would win this hand, after feeling a little more confident, he would stop whining. He tapped Lao's foot discreetly to let him know he wasn't going to win. His friends shoulders sagged but he stayed happy. Qing loved to play, he would get his money back before cashing in, Jann knew. The girl would get nothing. As amusing as it was for her to barge in like this, he had no intention of helping her. The round went as planned, as did the next, and the one after that. Jann Lee watched her face. It had gone to happy, to confused, to serious. It was now pouting. He could watch her forever. He almost wanted to throw her a bone and let her win a hand, but Lao was getting tired and the sun was beginning to set. They would have to go to work soon anyway, it was time to shore up the winnings and get going. Suddenly the girl stood up. "Had enough, sweetheart?" Lao asked wolfishly. She had lost what to a kid was a considerable amount of money, about 5 US dollars. I just need to stretch my legs, she said sweetly, she walked around until she was between Jann Lee and Lao and sat down. They glanced at each other. The system only worked because Jann had access to Lao's feet. With her in the way, it would be hard to communicate. A very quite whisper said in his ear, "I won't tell them how you two do it if you split the cash with me." _

_He looked sidelong at her, stunned. Did that mean she knew how they did it?_

"_If you don't I'll tell this guy to loose, positioning her foot to tap Lao's". She did know._

_Jann blinked and nodded. They'd been caught by a girl? A little can't do anything to protect herself girl? Qing lost and he and Xiao let out a slew of threats and curses as the other boys in the game collectively moaned. The 2 boys turned to the girl suddenly;" at least I didn't lose every hand like you." Qing sneered. She bit her lip, pretending to be upset. She waved to their backs as the two sauntered off, better than a girl. "See you next time!"_

_Lao and Jann stared at her. What a weirdo._

"_So boys, half the money, like promised." She put out her hand smugly, "Or the whole neighborhood learns how you make a living."_

_Lao grinned again and Jann Lee looked from him to the girl. He was up to something._

"_You're pretty good, sweetheart." He handed her a third of the pot. Jann looked warily at him. He was using the voice the boss used when he was being sneaky._

"_This isn't what we agreed on." She said, eyes flashing._

"_Yeah, but the rest is your induction fee." He said "Your not a normal player, you didn't expect us to let you in for free did you?" _

"_That was not part of the deal, it's not my fault you cheat so obviously" she shouted her face was getting red. "Give me my money!" She slipped into a fighting stance. Lao did the same._

"_I warn you, I have no problem with hitting a girl" he said, eyes like flint._

_We are too young to be acting like the boss, Jann sighed internally._

"_Wait, what if we make you a deal?" Jann said suddenly_

"_What?" They both said together._

"_She's good, caught us in her first game, Qing still hasn't. Why don't we let her in on the fun? Give her the money, and she can be the new spotter. Nobody will suspect her." He said gravely. They both stared at him, and then Lao relaxed and scratched the back of his head. "Didn't really want to beat up a girl anyway, but we keep her 'induction fee'._

_Jann shook his head, "only fair, but she gets half the pot next time. Okay?"_

_The girl, a little overwhelmed, now nodded brightly, she stuck out her hand to the two boys._

"_I'm Lei Fang!" She said sweetly._

_They stared at the hand. Neither took it. " I'm Lao Zhi and this is Jann Lee." Jann nodded._

"_We'll see you here, same time tomorrow, toots. We better go; the boss wants us on Main Street tonight." Lao walked off,_

"_I'll catch up," Jann called to him, he raised a single hand in an acknowledgement and farewell, leaving Lei Fang and Jann Lee alone._

_The two of them stood there for a moment._

"_How did you do it?" he asked he finally. She smiled craftily and jerked a thumb towards an apartment window right above where they had been playing._

"_I watch you guys every day" she said. "It took me awhile to figure out that when you close your eyes you were doing something to the cards. You're pretty good." She said shyly, "But papa taught me to look for that."_

"_Oh" was the only thing he could think to say, he looked down at his feet._

_The silence was oppressive._

"_Uh, Jann Lee? Where do you live?" She was making conversation.  
_

"_Around," he said, automatically, it was his best defense for not explaining that he lived in a cardboard box behind the boss's restaurant._

"_Well, I'll see you 'around', then" She said finally, before heading to the apartment steps. She waved before she went through the door. He stood there for awhile longer._

_He was nine years old and blown away.  
_

* * *

Registration went well, the matches would start tomorrow. Jann, tired after a night of intense training and sparing with some of the useless hopefuls went to retire to his room. He was surprised to find Lei Fang leaning on his doorway. He thought about going back to the gym, but was too stubborn to be driven away by a woman, let alone Lei fang of all people. Nevertheless, he approached his door way with caution. She was dressed for a night out, in a white dress silted and heels. It was a dress he'd seen before, she once completely immobilized Bass in it. As he got closer, her eyes fluttered open, she pushed herself off the door like a cat and stretched. It seemed she had been there for a long time. 

"Hitomi told me your room number" she said, before he even asked.

He made a mental note to take revenge later.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

"I'm just surprised you came to this tournament. You've never entered any around this time before. This is the week that…"

His face clouded. "I know that!" He snapped at her. "What are you doing here? Stalking me?"

A pained, but determined look appeared on her normally happy face. "This will be the tournament where I prove to you I belong in your world. I'll do it this week, in his memory."

He punched the wall next to her head, causing it to shatter. "Leave, Lei Fang. Just go. You can't be here right now."

She was more than a little stunned by his reaction, her eyes opened wide as shards of stone flew by her face; but she looked up at him, still determined.

"You don't scare me," she said as she walked down the hall, "You'll see. I'll make you accept me."

He stood with his fist, jammed into the wall, Eyes unreadable. It had been 8 years and it still hurt to think of Lao's death.

He turned around and headed back downstairs, he needed a drink.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I say again, I don't own any of the Dead or Alive Characters. Don't sue.

Author's note: This chapter didn't really come out how I envisioned it, and will most likely be revised sometime in the near future. Reviews of this chapter are particularly appreciated. Let me know what you think.

Lupi Loop, thanks for your review!

In the basement of The Regal King Hotel, Tokyo, Japan. Present Day

The basement door was shut. No light came from the crack under it. The two occupants were making absolutely sure that nobody would disturb them. The blacklight around them glowed eerily, making Christie's face looked as though it had been dipped in the color blue. She assembled her sniper rifle with cold ease. The clicks not even audible. The light only served to make the shadows on Bayman's face deeper and more pitted. He went over his weapons briskly. They worked in unison, and in silence. She looked like a goddess, He looked like a monster.

At last Christie spoke, nonchalantly as she adjusted the scope.

"I was surprised when they told me you would be my partner, Bayman. You seemed like a stand alone kind of guy." She chuckled as she adjusted the scope a third time. He paused in his preparations for a moment.

"The client wanted people who had fought the target, add the fact that I've killed at a tournament before…" He placed another knife into a hidden slot in his vest. "Plus, somebody needs to hold him while the girl is killed. The client wants him to watch before he dies. Despite your skill, I don't think you can hold him and snipe a target at the same time."

"True," She said swinging the gun up and catching Bayman in her sights. "But that wasn't my question"

They were at close range. The barrel of the gun ended under his nose.

"A job is a job," He shrugged, unoffended and unconcerned by the gun. "I will admit, killing Jann Lee and Lei Fang is not something I would do on my own, and certainly not with you, Christina; but I owed that man in Hong Kong a favor."

Christie smiled, satiated, as she lowered the gun.

"The Dead or Alive tournaments are going to be so much less fun without them." She drawled as she made a final adjustment. "I'm all set here"

He grunted, "Let's go set up phase 2 then."

A classy jazz piano tune played in the background as Jann Lee quietly drank his whiskey at the hotel bar. Or it was quiet, until somebody appeared behind him.

"There's a hit out on you, you know"

Jann Lee glanced up at the speaker as he sat down on the stool next to him.

"How did you find that out, Ryu?" He swirled the alcohol in his glass and watched it slop against the sides.

"I had some business in Hong Kong as of late." He explained, signaling the bartender, he needed a drink himself. "I also know the job was taken pretty recently. You should be careful."

He shrugged, "Let somebody try to kill me. They'll learn why I'm the best in the world."

Ryu glared at his arrogant drinking partner.

"You do know that there are other ways to kill you than fighting you head on." He reminded him "Besides, I know you can handle yourself. That's not what concerns me."

"Well, what then?" Jann asked taking a quick drink of his whiskey.

"The hit is not only on you, it's on Lei Fang as well." Jann Lee spat out his drink all over the unsuspecting bartender in surprise and slammed his glass down in rage. The bartender, despite being sopping wet and angry to boot, quickly moved away from them when she saw his face.

"What?!"

Ryu raised an eyebrow as his head swivled around to look at him. He finally had Jann Lee's undivided attention.

"My source said that it was "an anniversary gift" to the two of you. Any thoughts on what that means?"

Jann Lee was shaking, Ryu couldn't tell if it was with rage, but it certainly wasn't with fear "yeah, I know. Let me guess, The White Dragons ordered the hit. "

Ryu raised his other eyebrow, "Friends of yours?"

Jann took the sarcasm seriously. "I was a member of the original chapter, before things got too…deep for me. The current boss and I go way back."

"And this involves Lei Fang how?" He said hardening.

He had known Jann was a bouncer, and he had provided him with some pretty interesting intelligence when he had jobs in China, but he had never pegged him as a former gang member. He would have guessed that he had too much pride for that.

"She doesn't know it, but she goes way back with him too." Jann Lee's eyes softened suddenly, as if remembering something "Silly girl, she would have been safe if she hadn't tried her damnnest to stay with us…" He was stone again after a moment.

"Any clues as to who took the job?" He asked. Ryu shook his head, "Shortly after our first meeting my source disappeared. I did the usual asking around but no dice. All I know is that it's a male and female team"

Jann ran his hands through his hair. A male and female pair of assassins who got a kick out of killing people at tournaments, now who did that sound like?

"Okay, thanks, Ryu, I'll take it from here."

Ryu was amused, "What are you going to do?" Jann shrugged.

"They'll come to me eventually, right?"

"What about Lei Fang?"

"I'll deal with her, don't worry. she'll be far from here and well protected before this all goes down" He muttered. He was now in a worse mood than before. When he got a hold of the man who had been brave (or stupid) enough to order a hit on Lei Fang…

"Do you need my help? I still owe you for the intelligence you gathered for me in China." Ryu asked, his drink was empty, but he didn't get another. Jann did.

"I don't want your help." He said coldly, finish his second drink in one huge gulp.

"I didn't ask you if wanted it, I asked you if you needed it." The Ninja shot back. Although they were not particularly close, Ryu would have hated to see poor Lei Fang killed in a gang squabble that despite what Jann Lee alluded, was not her fault. He could still not wrap his brain around why Jann Lee would be in a gang. It was just not him. He seemed like such an honor bound man.

"I may," He said finally. He didn't he didn't want to take chances when it came to her safety. He didn't know how Lei Fang was going to react either. He gave him his room number before walking off, as if they had just had a causal conversation.

Jann absentmindedly rubbed a mark on the inner part of his left arm. It was a brand in the shape of a tiger, fighting a golden dragon.

* * *

_Hong Kong, China 9 years ago_

_The blood spurted from his mouth and dribbled down his chin. A boot swung into his stomach, a fist slammed into his jaw. Even though he had been training he did not fight back. This was part of his induction and as much he wanted to fight back, he couldn't. He heard Lao's beating somewhere off to his left. As he was turned around by his various assailants, He locked on to his friend's eyes, which were a mirror for his own pain. _

_Above them, Boss Yuen stood silently, leaning forward on his cane, watching them, wondering who would be the first to cry out. They had been good choices, he thought; the pick of the litter of that rabble of street orphans that had been pick pocketing for the various gang bosses for the last couple of years. Despite his young age, Lao Zhi was known for his charisma as well as playing a mean, if crooked, hand of poker. He had potential, and the rumor was that the mastermind, the brain, behind their card schemes was Jann Lee, who he had noticed, could handle himself in a fight, if not well trained. Yes they had been good additions to his urban army. It was best to get them while they were young, with hopes of changing the world through their actions. He could work on eroding those principles later. The old man, bored with the beating, walked to the window and looked out. He had no doubt that Boss Zheng of the White Snakes was doing the same to his new recruits. The street was bare of children that night. The ones with homes were probably tucked away, safe from harm. The others… the boss turned back to the boys._

_The beating had continued all night and well into the day. Just when, privately, Jann Lee though he was going to die. They stopped. After there "Purification ritual" the hardest part came. An evil looking man, with spiky hair, a stud in his nose and wrap around shades took a crude looking brand an dipped into a near by rusty oil drum that had lit a flame. For a moment, there was no sound but the crackling of the chemical flame. A sick string of knots began to form Jann's stomach as he realized just what was about to happen. The man held the brand aloft and with a swiftness that had to be seen to be believed, He wrenched up Jann's left arm and slammed the heated metal into his skin. He wanted to scream, but a hand was held over his mouth. The brand was left there, for a minute, and he writhed in agony before it was finally removed. Lao received the same treatment. Then there was cheering and yelling and hands that had been raised against them in anger now clapped them on the back in brotherhood. They were officially members of the Golden Dragons._

_The two boys limped home together, leaning on each other for support. Although nothing was life threatening, they had to make some quick get aways from people too concerned for there own good. The shortest route home was past her house, and though they both dearly would have avoided her seeing them in there sorry state, they needed to get home as soon as possible. She was waiting for them on her steps, he could tell even from a long way off that she was concerned. After all, it had been four days since their last daily poker game, and she knew that they didn't have anywhere to go. She had once suggested getting them help, finding them homes. They had both rebelled at the idea of losing their freedom and had threatened to stop coming to see her if she told anyone. They were feral children living in a feral world; there was nothing a domesticated life could do for them now. They finally reached her. She was still wearing her school jumper, as if she had been afraid if she had gone inside to change she would have missed them. The expression of horror on her face was evident. Though he had been proud moments before, Jann felt shame and guilt seep into his wounds and make him feel even sicker._

"_What happened to you two?" She leapt off the steps to help prop up a sagging Lao._

_Lao, despite a split lip, smiled his same old smile at her._

"_Aww, don't worry about it, little sister. Nobody is gonna pick on us ever again! We're official members of the Golden Dragons!"_

"_You're WHAT?!" she shouted. Her eyes cracked with an angry lightening._

_The quagmire of looks that began to cross her face was not a surprise to Jann Lee as she glared at him. Lao, despite being a year older than him, always was the first to jump into anything, Jann knew that Lei trusted him to hold Lao back from doing stupid things. To her this was probably about as stupid as it could get._

"_How could you! How could you!" she yelled, almost hysterically, she let go of Lao, and he sagged to the ground, Jann, who could barely support his friend, groaned. "It's too dangerous," she continued to glare at Jann over Lao as she propped up his body again. He was worse off than Jann, but not by much. Jan felt his own legs begin wobble._

"_We had to join if we wanted to keep working for the boss," He shrugged, trying to explain, "Boss Yuen pays well" He didn't tell her that he was secretly drawn to the idea, as the boss had put it, of changing the world with his fists. He had a feeling she might hit him if he did and she was getting good at hitting hard. Her grandfather was teaching her Tai chi quan. Soon she was going to be a better fighter than Lao, maybe not him, but Lao._

"_I can't believe you would do something so…" She began, but he cut her off._

"_This is what we have chosen. There is no going back, and if you don't like it, you can go home, to your safe little world of school, training and girl things and never bother us again. We are gangsters now," He said looking at her evenly, "If you don't want to have anything to do with us, I understand." She returned his gaze. Something about his stare lately had made her belly do flip flops. Not have anything to do with them? Did she really want that? Memories of the past couple year flooded her mind. Lao teaching her how to making paper boats to float down the gutter after it rained; Jann teaching her how to mark cards. Lao teaching her how to steal pork buns off of the old man's stall when he was distracted; Explaining algebra to Jann Lee, teaching him how to do it, then watching in surprise as he picked it up and started helping her with her homework; Loaning him books and getting them back days later with a gruff, quiet assessment of them. Did she really want never to see Lao or Jann again? She knew there were safer people to be friends with; People that the idea of joining a gang would have never occurred to. But those people weren't Jann and Lao. She gently freed herself from Lao's shoulder and rested him on the sidewalk. His face flipped towards her, searching "Lei?"_

"_Stay here, I'll be right back. Those wounds won't heal without some kind of medical attention." She returned in a moment with a first aid kit, a bottle of water and some food in a bag strapped to her waist. She then situated herself between Lao and Jann and drapped them on to her shoulders, supporting them both. The look on her face was one neither of them had seen before, it held anger, fury and rage in it but also a fierce sort of protectiveness. She wasn't going to let them down. _

"_Now", she said through gritted teeth, "Where do you live?"_

_He pointed down the block as she shifted her wait and began, with some difficulty, hauling them both as the limped along side her. Jann was surprised he had expected her to turn around and walk away. Even though she had been their constant companion for years now, he had always though they were a game to her something interesting to be toyed with, like she had toyed with them at the first poker game._

_He could hear the though in her head as they shuffled down the street._

_13 and in a gang?! Ridiculous!_

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: I have been fighting Writer's Clog, which is entirely diffrent than Writer's block in the sense that I know exactly what I want to happen and it's all trying to come out at once. I was halfway through writing chapter four when I realized that it wouldn't make sense without this chapter. It came out a little lumpy, but I think it's alright. Reviews are loved! Tell me what you think!

Lupi Loop: I'm glad you liked the chapter, and the addition of Christie and Bayman. Those two will be back and making trouble in the next chapter.

Boggy: Thank you for your thorough review, it was helpful in the construct of this chapter. I know the idea of the fiercely free Jann Lee in a gang does not quite fit, but bare with me, by the end of at least the next chapter you will have (what I feel anyway) an in character explanation of his actions in his Hong Kong days. I also triple proofread this time, it's hard to catch everything though, but I do try.

Enjoy!

* * *

The Dragon and The Phoenix: Chapter 3 

Jann Lee approached her door and knocked on it lightly, and then, receiving no reply, pounded on it.

She was gone.

He remembered then that she had been dressed for a night on the town. Jann sighed in annoyance; it hadn't clicked in his head that she'd be out. His eyes flicked to a clock that hung in the hallway over the elevator. It was already 11:30 and he had a match tomorrow. He knew could beat the guy with his pinky, but that was irrelevant. He wanted to be in top condition anyway. It would be disrespectful to his opponent to hold back. To Jann Lee, it was comparable to spiting on them. How would they learn unless they knew how badly they could be beaten? Every hit would be tantamount to a weakness. Even the best fighters couldn't improve unless those weaknesses were exposed. He knew his opponent, when he was through, would doubtless wish he held back but would be better for it.

He fought a mental battle with himself if he should stay or tell her in the morning. He knew perfectly well that he wouldn't be calm until he saw her. The idea that someone was running around right now looking to kill her and the fact that she was oblivious to it was fraying his nerves. He had been in this situation before. He knew if he wanted either of them to survive he couldn't act rashly. They probably didn't know that Ryu had tipped him off. He needed it to stay that way. Although he hadn't acted like it, he was grateful for the heads up. Jann hadn't been in Hong Kong in six years, and his ties to the underworld there were growing thin. Friends and contacts had been killed, had retired, or simply disappeared. He paced in the hallway like a caged animal. He was fighting the urge, against all logic, to go out, find her and whisk her away, to just run. He clenched his fists in anger at himself. He had never run from anything in his life. Running wouldn't fix the fact that two trained assassins would come after them. The thought was accompanied by mental vision of Lei Fang's accusatory glare the last time they had fought. Running was something she had accused him of doing. His response had been to flip her off of the bridge that had been their arena. He wasn't running then and he certainly wasn't going to start now.

Jann finally decided that he would wait, for as long as he could. He settled down across from her door, his back up against the wall. He was restless, for obvious reasons, and sitting still was hard. He pounded the wall above his head in frustration "Qing, you bastard…" he mumbled to no one in particular.

* * *

_Hong Kong, seven year ago_

_Boss Yuen had been kind, as far as kindness from gangsters could be considered, by not assigning them anything until they had somewhat mended. It was more of a business decision really; how good of a job could two maimed boys do? Lei Fang had to splint Lao's right arm. She had also stitched a wound across his eyebrow. Jann hadn't known that she had so much medical knowledge. He didn't know anybody else, on or off the street, who knew how to properly suture a wound at 13. She simply said that a friend of her grandfather had taught her, when a student at his dojo was hurt once. It was a good skill to have and he watched carefully as she did it. He would bug her to teach him later. After she had finished with Lao, she rubbed a putrid smelling healing balm into Jann's own extensive bruises and bandaged his open cuts. They were on their way back to health when they had a visitor. It had been a cloudy day; the old, abandoned warehouse where they lived had been dark. Lei Fang had come to change their wrappings and had brought them tea and food. Jann was laid up with a still busted ankle and Lao just didn't want to move. She had been explaining the suture technique to them when the slab of concrete they used as a front door shifted. All eyes turned to it. Then a familiar pudgy voice came through the door._

"_Jann? Lao? Are you guys in there?" The voice then squeezed, with much grunting and puffing through the door, revealing a chunky, round faced boy they knew very well. It was Hong. His brother, Sing, owned the ramen shop down the way. He was a regular at the daily poker games that had for now, been discontinued. Sing had been wary of the gangs, and as initiation time came around had kept Hong busy in the shop. They had not seen each other for some time. Bright and cheerful, even when things got bad, he was always welcome company and was one of the few people who knew where Lao and Jann actually lived._

"_Oi, Hong! Long time no see!" Lao shouted joyously and then cradled his split lip in pain._

_Hong had to step closer to see them in the dim room. _

"_Aya! Why don't you guys get a flashlight in here or something, I can barely see where I'm going" He whined._

_Lei fang pulled out the one that she had brought to examine the cuts on Jann's knuckles. It was small, but powerful. She shone the beam towards him and he shielded his eyes._

"_Now it's too bright!" He noticed who was holding the flashlight. _

"_Hey, Lei Fang! Should have guessed you'd be here too. Lucky for you, I brought extra. They realized that he was holding the wooden box that they had seen his brother use to make deliveries._

"_Yes, Food!" Lao shouted, and winced._

_Jann glared at him, "Lei Fang just fed you, be grateful." _

_Lei Fang smiled at him, "I'm glad that someone appreciates my cooking."_

_Jann smiled back. Lao rolled his eyes at the two of them._

_Hong began to dish out the Ramen. He handed Jann and Lei chopsticks. Both of Lao's arms were immobilized, and had opted just to stick his face in the bowl. They all knew Lao well enough not to criticize. _

"_The smoke is clearing from the various initiations." Hong said finally. _

_Jann tensed, he knew telling him the outcome had been Hong's real purpose in coming. You'd be surprised how many of you guys signed up. I and Ah-guo were the only ones who stayed out. Wei and Zhi ended up with the tigers." _

"_The tigers and the dragons are allies," Jann noted, pleased_

_Lao smiled, "We still have two poker buddies swindle then". Hong rolled his eyes._

"_Long, Li, Bai and Yi ended up with the Lions"_

_Jann nodded impassively, the Lions had no problems with the dragons._

"_Ah, we won't see them anymore, man, the Lions will have them working clear across town" Lao complained_

"_Stop acting like you've joined different baseball teams", Lei Fang muttered darkly. His nonchalant behavior about being beaten up and joining a gang was beginning to push on her last nerve. _

_And Qing? Jann asked quietly, concern in his tone._

_Qing and Jann Lee had always been at odds. They both came from similar circumstances, and at the time he had met Lei Fang, they had all even lived in the same cardboard box together. But no matter what they did Qing always had to be better, whether it was for pleasure or profit, poker or pick pocketing. He had never truly been friendly with anybody except Xiao, his tag along crony. He enjoyed taunting Lao, and angering Jann Lee. He had once almost permanently maimed Lao by 'accident'. There was a distaste between them that had survived despite years of being together with mutual acquaintances, playing card and fighting for survival that was oddly significant to them both. Jann chose to just ignore him most days, but Qing's future was a subject of interest to him._

_Hong was quiet for a moment._

"_Qing and Xiao are now members of the White Snakes."_

_Lei Fang felt the change in the air as they suddenly became serious. Jann rested his head back against his bedding, Lao had stopped eating, ramen dribbling off his chin. Hong looked like a sad Buddha, his brow was furrowed._

"_Man…" Lao finally said. The turf war between the Dragons and the Snakes was a well known and incredibly bloody one. The White snakes were know to be a particularly vicious bunch and liked to encroach on other gangs territories for fun. Their boss, Zheng was one of the most feared men in all of Hong Kong._

"_Well, he couldn't say no to them…." Hong said, "Qing…_

"_Qing probably wanted in, He's always had a nasty streak. Xiao less maybe, but he has one too." Jann pointed out and Hong nodded, not denying it. _

_Jann had thought Qing had been acting strange for the last couple of weeks, calmer and a hell of a lot more self possessed. It had been virtually certain at that point that Jann and Lao were going to join the dragons. Qing and Xiao had just smiled softly to each other when Lao extolled the might of the Dragons. Jann was still working on getting Lao to keep his mouth shut about those kinds of things. Qing had just folded his hand, something he had been doing more often of late. He had eventually figured out the first poker scheme Jann Lee had set up, about six months after Lei Fang and insisted that Jann and Lao sit apart at games, Jann had of course rigged up a back up system and Qing was back in the dark, or so Jann thought. He could never quite tell with Qing, two years ago he had been a crybaby, now he seemed to be turning into something Jann couldn't quite put his finger on. One thing was for sure, he was getting smarter._

_Qing had whispered under his breath, "We'll see about that." _

_Jann had guessed what he meant correctly and it filled him with unease._

"_Does this mean Qing and Xiao won't come to poker anymore?" Lei Fang asked sincerely. The innocence in her voice shook him to the core. Across from him, Lao looked equally disturbed._

"_Lei Fang," Lao said quietly, "Never speak to Qing or Xiao again. If they come towards you, run, no matter what they say._

"_But they're our friends?" She looked confused, her mind although it had understood gangs equal bad was having trouble with friend in gangs equals bad. It was another thing Jann was beginning to worry about._

_It was Hong who said it, and it was him saying it that made it important. _

"_Not anymore"_

_It had started between them almost immediately after they started work. New recruits of one gang were usually sent out to harry new recruits of another. It was just hazing, a way for the new boys to bond by rescuing or defending one another and beating up somebody else. There was nothing significant by it; except when it was the White Snakes who were hazing. They got Bai first, took his left arm clean off. The Lions were furious, but really couldn't do anything about if they didn't want the Snakes to attack the docks in full force. All they needed was the slightest provocation and the Lions simply weren't strong enough to challenge them. They were really just a small time gang, nothing too serious. They struck the Tigers next, nearly killing some new recruit in a hit and run. Hong had gotten the story from a seriously shook up Wei and recounted the tale to Jann Lee and Lao in the Ramen shop. It was it the middle of a freak thunderstorm. The rain drops fell alarmingly on the tin roof, making it harder to hear. "What?" Lao asked for a third time._

"_Why don't we just show you?" A quiet voice said from outside the shop, it cut through the sound of the rain like a knife. Qing, Xiao and two hefty boys entered the shop. To make matters infinitely worse, a recognizable person had slipped in through the back door._

"_Jann? Lao? Hong?" She came into the dining room, and her eyes widened. Qing smiled; this was working out better than he planned._

"_Hello, Lei fang, I'm so glad you could join us for this." He said, he mad a minute motion with his left hand and Xiao and he started towards her. Automatically, she shifted into her Tai Chi Quan fighting stance. Xiao and Qing, who had never studied martial arts formally, didn't recognize it and laughed._

"_What are you going to princess," he asked, "Dance me to death?"_

_Lao moved to stand in front of her._

"_Lei, don't get involved" he said quietly_

"_Your fight is with us, Qing" Jann said, wincing in his mind at how stupidly heroic he sounded. "Let's take this somewhere else"._

_Hong had backed towards the kitchen, Jann understood, he didn't want to get involved._

_He realized suddenly that he stood alone in the center of the room. Lao was trying to push Lei Fang out the door and Hong was about to hide._

_Everything happened in the blink an eye. Qing and Xiao lunged for Jann Lee while the hefty boys proceeded to attack Lao and in the process wreck the shop. Xiao was light and easily tossed into a chair, which left him fazed. Qing was harder, much harder. _

_He feinted a punch left and then aimed for the lower portion of Jann's stomach, and was rewarded by a knee to his chest. Keeping force in it, he extended his leg fully, catching Qing under the chin and forcing him away. Qing came at him again at a run, shoulder first. It was obvious that he was going to try to pin Jann to the wall. Jann easily sidestepped his attempt and elbowed him as hard as he could in the back. As he fell Qing's arm snapped out slammed him behind his knee forcing him to the ground. Flipping over and getting to his knees in a flash he tossed up Jann Lee and slammed his knee into his chin. Jann slid to the floor. Qing considering his opponent beaten, turned his attention to Lao's fight. He had managed to knock one boy off balance and then Lei Fang, disregarding the order not to get involved, had grabbed the boy by the wrist, slammed him up against the wall and threw her shoulder into his windpipe, knocking him unconscious. Lao grappled with the other boy as he tried to choke him. Lei Fang's back was to Qing as she attempted to separate Lao from his attacker. Smiling evilly, he reached out from behind and grabbed her by the throat. Her cry sounded in Jann Lee's ears. Before either Qing or Lei Fang could react to one another, Jann Lee flew across the room. He slammed his fist into Qing's face, dislodging him from Lei Fang. He punched him again as hard as he could when he had recovered, his fist connecting with Qing's eye. The boy stumbled and fell onto the floor of the restaurant. Lao finally managed to throw his attacker off and kick him soundly in the head. The boy limped off, carrying the boy Lei Fang had knocked out. Xiao had come around and was at Qing's side. Qing shook his head once, confused and then again a second time in fear._

_The three victors stared down at him as he reached a horrifying realization._

"_My eye!" he screamed, voice cracking, hand covering it in terror, "I can't see!"_

_Blood dripped from the red and swollen eye as Xiao helped Qing up. _

"_I'll get you for this, Jann Lee! His one good eye slid to Lao and then to Lei Fang "I'll get all three of you!"_

* * *

The hours rolled like water off the cliff of time, and still she did not return. It was now well past 3 am.

He had, in a moment of inspiration, banged on Hitomi's and the Japanese girl's doors, knowing that Lei Fang would be with them. Neither were there, so at the moment he didn't have to worry about her abduction. With a last glare at her door, he headed back to his own room, defeated by her sheer ability to party. He knew he wouldn't sleep well tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors notes: Whew! It feels like it took me forever to write this chapter! It was originally a lot mushier than it turned out and the movie was Casablanca, not the big boss. but I felt that it took Jann Lee too much out of character and it was cliche, So I had to scrap it and start over. If anyone is interested, I'll post it once I finish the fic. It took about four rewrites and a lot of (enjoyable) Bruce Lee research to write this chapter. Even though it took longer than it normally did to write, it's twice the length. As always, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Please review and tell me how I did this I'm glad you like it! Don't worry, I mean to see this one through to the end!

* * *

Disclaimer: I still don't own Dead or alive and you still can't sue me. Ha!

The Dragon and the Phoenix Chapter 4

At a nightclub, halfway across town, another figure sat with a drink. Anyone who saw her would have wondered how she managed to pull off looking so perfect in that moment. The club's theme was frosted glass and the table where she was frosted the same white as her dress and shoes. The iridescent creature on her outfit shimmered as she shifted and her black hair and brown eyes contrasted starkly with it all. Her frosted martini was poised in her hand but currently untouched. Her forehead rested on the hand that held the glass. She was deep in contemplation, her eyes vacantly following the colored lights flashing on the floor. It was unlike her, she knew, to be so lethargic. Jann Lee tended to do that to her, even when it was her that sought him out. As usual, she was infuriated, invigorated, cheerless and overjoyed at the same time. That tended to take a lot out of a girl.

_Jann Lee…_

_Lao Zhi…_

The melancholy did not fall unnoticed by her friends who were happily out on the dance floor, moving with the music.

"What's wrong with the princess?" Tina breathlessly asked Hitomi in between Zack's signature dance move which consisted of tossing her into the air, catching her and letting her shimmy back to earth. It was annoying her, to tell the truth, and any reason not to act like a prepubescent cheerleader again was welcome.

"Jann Lee, I think" Hitomi answered, "She was so stunned to see him here that I gave her his room number, so she could ask him why herself."

Tina rolled her eyes dramatically, "It's always something with those two! I wish they would just get together and get over it".

Hitomi shrugged and thought of her own relationship with Ein, or was he Hayate now? She knew things weren't always that easy.

Kokoro swung over to them, Eliot on her arm, puzzled as why they were standing in the middle of the dance floor. She hadn't noticed that Lei Fang hadn't moved from her spot since she came in before, but she did now.

"What's wrong with Lei?" She asked, Hitomi repeated her statement.

"I feel sort of bad, having fun when she's down in the dumps." Kokoro confessed, then with determination in her eyes, she held up her fist in the same pose that Hitomi did right before she began to punch someone's lights out. "We have to do something!"

About ten minutes later, a very embarrassed, blushing Eliot, cautiously approached her.

"Um…. Miss Lei Fang? I was, uh, wondering…" She turned and looked at him. She was probably only a couple of years older than him, but her fighting style had instilled in her a grace of movement and gravity that made her feel much more mature. He might as well have been Mei Lin asking himself to dance. She angled her head up, so that she was looking at him while still leaning against her glass.

"…would you like to dance?" He finished.

She smiled at him graciously, and placed her glass down on the table.

"Thanks Eliot, but I really don't feel like dancing tonight".

"And why not?" Hitomi asked; appearing at Eliot's side and coming to the stammering boy's defense. After all, she had put him up to it. Kokoro appeared behind her, hesitant whether or not to collect her dance partner. Tina swung around from behind Lei Fang and hugged her friend around the shoulders.

"Why so glum, chum?" Tina said, annoyingly cheerful, "When life gives you lemons, stomp on them until they make lemonade. So Jann is being an idiot, it doesn't me that you have to let him get you down." She finished the sentence by slamming her cowboy hat on to Lei Fang's head. Her ears rung briefly, but she tilted her head back so she could see her friends under the hat's wide brim.

All four of them smiled at her, making it hard for her not to smile herself. Maybe this would be a good week this year.

"Thanks guys," Her eye sparkled mischievously as she grabbed Eliot by the wrist suddenly pulling him along with her. "I'll take that dance."

Christie sat in the back of the club, watching the now boisterous girl try to share dance moves with the fumbling teenager as Hitomi and Kokoro cheered them on. She sipped her vodka absentmindedly as she watched them. The look in her eyes was decidedly predatory. Tailing the group of talented, but oblivious, fighters from the hotel hadn't really been hard. She carefully cased the place as she had done with every place Lei Fang had frequented that week. Could she snipe her from in here? There was a thin metal walkway that wrapped around the top half of the bar's ceiling. However, the bar, which was built in a renovated old warehouse; had an incredibly high ceiling. In addition it was laced with various mirrors designed, in conjunction with the lights, to make the room look smaller. She frowned slightly, trying to envision the top half of the club from a bird's eye view. She loved the idea of it, but the mirrors could be a real problem when lining up the shot. She also had no clue how Bayman could hold Jann Lee in a crowded nightclub without anyone noticing. Although, judging by the dance that Lei Fang and Gen fu's brat were performing, he could always pretend it was a dance move. The sheer ridiculousness of the thought made her laugh. She finally admitted to herself that the place wouldn't work. She was disappointed. She liked the club, flashing lights on frosted glass. She could imagine lining up the shot, angling it to where there would be the most blood spatter and the graceful, sudden decent of Lei Fang's slender body shattering the glass floor into a thousand pieces that reflected the light. It could have been such a work of art. She sighed in annoyance as they continued to foolishly glide across the floor without a care it the world. She lifted up her glass in a toast to them and positioned her pointer and index finger so that it resembled a gun. She pointed it at Lei Fang.

"Bang, Bang" she laughed to herself.

When she finally arrived back at her hotel room, Lei Fang was exhausted. Luckily, her first match was not for a few days yet. Unlike Jann Lee, she participated in this tournament every year, and had been seeded. If the tournament hadn't been held that year she would have found another to compete in. She needed to fight this week, every year. It was the week her life had changed forever. Sometimes fighting on this week was good, if her opponents were strong and open hearted fighters. Even though the cause of the fighting was sad, she had laughed during this week; she had been happy, giddy and had smiled during this week before. She was sure Lao would not have wanted it otherwise. Other times this anniversary made her cry, scream and want to take out her rage on some unsuspecting person. The pain was good too, it made sure she never forgot what had transpired that fateful week in Hong Kong.

Each year it was different, and each year it had noticeably been spent away from Jann Lee. She didn't know where exactly he went, although she had a pretty good idea. Normally, this week each year he disappeared and would show up on the tourney circuit right after. She had never been able find him before. His being here made her tired, but invigorated at the same time. She could finally fulfill the promise she made to Lao all those years ago. The nightclub had cheered her up immensely. Lei Fang felt grateful that she had such good friends. She didn't think she would ever be able to make it without them. She removed her pumps first and then her earrings before unbuckling her dress and letting it fall to the floor as her thoughts wandered back to Jann Lee. What was he doing right now? she wondered to herself, had he gone somewhere to have fun as well? She laughed at her own thought. He probably went right back to training after their earlier chat. His shattering the wall had scared her, but she shrugged it off. Men were allow to get emotional too, she supposed. As she slipped on her nightgown and sank into her bed, she found herself still thinking as she drifted off. When was the last time she had seen Jann Lee truly happy?

* * *

_Hong Kong, seven years ago_

_Jann Lee stood outside her window. He was a little annoyed he was there, as he was every year. He double checked to make sure nobody had seen him. The Snakes and Dragons turf war was still in full swing and this neighborhood had recently become disputed. He didn't want any Snakes deciding they wanted to pick a fight with 'Jann the Dragon' tonight. Although it had only been a few years, Lao and Jann were talented boys had had risen quickly in the ranks of the Dragons. Jann had done particularly well. He excelled in the basic martial arts training that the gang dojo were able to give him to the point that he stopped going simply because they had nothing more to teach him. He trained by his lonesome now, sometimes sparing with Lao to stay sharp. In addition, he had swiftly become one of the Dragons top strategists. He made plans and back up plans for Boss Yuen himself. Although they weren't top members, both he and Lao had become pretty high up._

_Unfortunately, advancement had come with a price. In was a favorite tactic of all the gangs to kidnap close friends and family members to force compliance from another gang member, usually resulting in the man's death. The worse part was that the innocents involved were usually killed as well. It wasn't something that he approved of, but these days he wasn't approving much of anything the gang did anymore. Zheng was ruthless, and Yuen wasn't as caring about his men as he had appeared all the years ago when he was recruited. He wasn't going to let anyone he cared about get hurt because of him. In exchange for high rank, Jann was forced to become stoic. It had been easy to lose most of the friends he made on the street. The hardest two lose were Lei Fang and Hong. Hong had been more reasonable than Lei Fang, but still insisted that if Jann needed anything to come to him. He hadn't seen him in two years._

_Lei Fang was not as easy to persuade and he had been in the end unable to convince her. She insisted that he stay in touch, and when he hadn't she came looking for him in places a decent girl ought not to go. She seemed hell bent on getting herself killed going after them, and he certainly didn't care what Martial Arts Monthly said about her being a "Tai Chi Quan genius". It shouldn't allow her to walk in to dark alleyways, where she knew men with guns and knives dwelled, to go looking for him. In the end, he'd caved in to her and decided it might be safer if they just kept in touch. Lao had been thrilled of course, and resumed seeing her like he always had. Jann kept his distance though. The last thing in the world he wanted was for her to get hurt. Part of him, although he couldn't admit it to himself, was happy that she'd won out. Life would certainly be less interesting without her. On days like today he would suspend his rules and visit her. It was something he always secretly looked forward to._

_Lei Fang sat on her window ledge letting the cool, city scented night air wash over her. It was her birthday, her 16__th__. She had held a huge party with all of her family members and schoolmates invited. She had not, however, been able to invite Jann Lee or Lao Zhi. After that day, nearly two years ago now, Jann Lee had become distant. Lao Zhi had kept in touch more so but even he had become removed. She had other friends and her Tai Chi Quan training to keep her occupied, but she missed them terribly. The party had just ended, and she sat reading an autobiography of a great Tai Chi Quan master that her grandfather had given her, when she was suddenly pelted with stones._

"_Ouch!" she exclaimed, shaking off the gravel and dirt._

"_Lei Fang?" Jann Lee's voice floated up to her window._

_She stuck her head out into the alley way and looked down. Jann Lee's angled, serious face stared back up at her. He smiled slightly at her confused and happy expression. "Yo" he said. "Happy Birthday. Lao said he saw you earlier this week but to tell you happy birthday again._

"_Thank you," She smiled down at him like a princess in her tower._

_There was silence for a moment and then he said gruffly "Come on, I have something to show you."_

_Lei Fang thought fast and then ran out into her kitchen, "Mom? Li Bin just called and wants to borrow my English language textbook. I'll be back in a bit, okay?"_

"_That's fine, Honey" her mother said absently._

_She grabbed a bag big enough to hold her English book. Then, still in her party best, which happened to be a long red dress with slits in the side and heels, a gift from her mother, she ran down the stairs and out into the alleyway. He had first just glanced at her but then abruptly looked at her head on. The intensity of that gaze as he examined her made a blush crawl to her face. Then, just as quickly, he looked away, grabbed her by the wrist and muttered" follow me". Now here she was, back where she had tended to him just a few years ago. The place had changed a bit. Lao had moved to an apartment using the money that they made working at the scrap yard and other endeavors that she wasn't suppose to know about but did. Jann had stayed put, although she couldn't figure out why. The place no longer looked the child's hideout of a few years ago. A punching bag had been attached to the low ceiling; next to it were boxer's gloves, a large set of weights and some other equipment that Lei fang couldn't recall the names for. Instead of a ball of sheets nestled into concrete, he had a normal futon, with extra thick padding it looked like, and a lamp in a corner. There was also a pile of books next to the lamp. He had been keeping up with his studies it seemed. The concrete slab had been replaced with a heavy metal door with about six locks on it. Jann Lee liked his privacy. The rest of the place was the same, and Lao's old corner remained untouched. The newest addition was a hunk of metal at the end of the room._

"_Wait," she said "Lao told me about this. Isn't this that the thing you guys found last month when you were at work at the scrap yard? Lao said it had become your new project, but he didn't know what it was." She asked him, resting flighty fingers on the cool metal. "He said that you were going to sell it"_

"_That was before I knew what it was"_

_Jann Lee looked down at the object with pride, and his whole face seemed to soften. She had never seen that look on his face before. He looked like a whole different person._

"_It's a movie projector. It took me a while but I finally got it working again. I went digging and found these too" he held out a bunch of old film reels out to her. _

"_Pick one" he said_

_They were all Bruce Lee movies and TV shows. Lei Fang was stumped; she had never seen a Bruce Lee movie before. She had heard of him of course, who hadn't? She hesitantly looked at the titles. Enter The Dragon, Way of the Dragon, there was a lot of dragon titles in there. Hesitantly she picked up the one of the non-dragon titles, The Big Boss, and handed it to him. Eagerly he put the film on the reel. Lei Fang made a face as he passed her the candy popcorn._

"_Happy birthday" he said._

_He was trying, she knew that, so for his sake she forced out a smile. She was happy to spend time with him, any time at all. The movie flared to life on an old sheet he hung at the back of the room. She suddenly noticed more reels resting carelessly on the floor next to the projector. He must watch these all the time she thought to herself, she snapped to attention when she realized Jann had been speaking to her._

"_What did you say?" she turned to look at him_

"_oh, uh nothing…" he said quickly_

_The movie progressed and Lei Fang found herself actually beginning to enjoy it. The characters were interesting at least, she liked the interactions between the cocky Cheng and the wise Chow Mei. Jann Lee spoke again and this time she heard what he said._

"_So I here that you and Lao are finally an item" he said, carefully chewing on his words before saying them. _

"_Who told you that? Lao?" She bit her lip, "No, you've got it wrong. He did ask me out but…" She paused and turned to the movie screen, "I turned him down"_

"_What?" he looked at her, the question in his eyes before he actually said anything "Why?"_

"_It would be unfair to Lao. I… have feelings for someone else, though he probably doesn't know or return them" she said looking away with a wry smile. "besides, Lao is like my little brother, I could never go on a serious date with him"_

_She looked back at the movie screen, tucking her knees beneath her chin anxiously. She glanced at him, her eyes darting back and forth from him and the movie. _

_He seemed to have completely ignored the part about her having feelings for someone else._

"_I want to be just like Bruce Lee when I grow up. It's all his own style, he's free to do what ever he wants and does it. It's the kind of person he is, the martial art reflects the man. He fights for what he believes in."_

_On screen the man was demolishing gangsters who had killed his cousin. Pity, Lei Fang thought absently, she liked the cousin._

"_Isn't he fighting against what you do? I mean look at him, he's tearing apart all of those guys, if it were you," She shivered at the thought, "Wouldn't that be you he's beating up." Jann Lee's eyes did a sweep of the movie, and then a sweep of Lei Fang's face,_

" _I'm just like Cheng," He argued, "I just wanted a job and to protect the people I care about, if it's for mobsters, who cares?" his eyes had gone cloudy and the expression in his voice made it sound like maybe he did care, a lot._

"_I do," she pressed, "It's dangerous and you aren't protecting anybody. I don't understand why you need the Dragons at all. How many innocent people are really under the threat of the white snakes? Who really benefits from the all out war you wage against each other?"_

_In the movie, Chow Mei lectured Cheng on how he'd forgot about finding her lost brother to have dinner with the boss. The house was in an uproar._

"_You don't understand, at all" He said, with finality. He was trying to close the subject, but she wouldn't let him. This was truly what she wanted for her birthday. The secret wish she had made when she blew out her candles; Answers to her questions about him. She was not going to back down, not ever._

"_Make me," she ordered._

_Through her speech, Jann had been absorbed in the movie, not taking his eyes from the screen. Now he swiveled his head to look at her straight in the eyes._

_Lei Fang's breath caught in her throat as those cool amber eyes regarded her. A long moment passed before he began to speak._

"_The world can be a scary place, when you don't grow up coddled. You're a slave to your own body, to your stomach who wants to know when it's going to get its next meal; your skin and muscles, which want to know when you are going to be in a warm dry place. You are a slave too to your mind which is frantic in the knowledge that any second now the jig could be up, one crazy man with a knife or a gang of boys wanting pocket change could end it. I wanted…" _

_he laid down on his back, ignoring the movie, he still gazed up at her. _

"_Freedom. I wanted the ability to tell my body the answers to my questions; I wanted those around me to know that I was a force to be reckoned with, even if I wasn't yet. Boss Yuen promised me that. He promised that if Lao and I came to work for him there would be chance to change the world with our own two hands; to tame our desires and to become our own men." _

_He paused to catch his breath._

"_He didn't entirely lie. I was able to feed myself, clothe myself, and make a wage by turning a blind eye to a few of the things that went on in my work places. I was able to take care of myself. However, the gang's activities put all kinds of restrictions on me. I was followed and beaten by people who didn't like me simply because of this." He showed he the brand on the inside of his arm. "I have followed and beat people for the same reason. I have been forced to fight or be killed. I have gone from being a slave to myself, to Boss Yuen's caged prize fighter. The freedom I seek eludes me."_

_He closed his eyes then, and broke the trance that he seemed to have put Lei Fang into._

_She had no reply for that, she didn't know if there was a reply for that._

"_He's crazy, you know," he said suddenly, opening one eye to look at her._

"_Who? Bruce Lee?" she said illogically looking at the movie screen._

"_No, the guy you have feelings for. If he doesn't return them, he's the stupidest man in existence."_

_She balked for a minute. How could his mind slide right back to her feelings for a guy, after saying something as impossibly deep as that. Her own brain couldn't keep up. Her stomach however, began to do familiar flip flops as she addressed the situation at hand. It was a look that did it. There was a question in her eyes that he didn't understand at first, perhaps because he didn't want to. Slowly, it felt like an eternity to Lei Fang, it dawned on him that the person she was talking about was himself. He was extremely uncomfortable instantly, and sat up in surprise. The look on his face was not promising and she turned to the movie stonily, even though she had no idea what was going on._

_He hadn't been expecting that. It wasn't that he didn't have feeling for her. He'd fallen for her the first day he met her, even though he was so young at the time that he hadn't actually realized it. However, a love affair would be dangerous, more for her than him. As Jann had risen in the ranks of the Dragons, Qing had risen in the ranks of the snakes and he took their rivalry very seriously, it was well known by everybody in the Hong Kong underworld the Qing One Eye of the Snakes wanted the Golden Dragon's Jann the Dragon dead. He wouldn't put her in danger of becoming bait. On top of that, Qing never let a grudge die. Jann could believe that he would attempt to hurt her after her involvement in his losing his eye if she was constantly in his view. _

_No, he couldn't let any feelings for her show._

_He sat like stone,completely unresponsive until a glint of light alerted him to something he had missed. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, though she made no noise, not one sob. Jann's own eyes widened and for the thousandth time he cursed the day he'd joined the gang. He suddenly grabbed her roughly and held her to with his right arm, forcing her head on his shoulder, and blocking the projector lens making a Lei Fang sized hole in the movie. At first she resisted, but slowly she let her body relax and the tears stop flowing. He lifted her chin up so that she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. His look was hesitant, and unsure._

_In the background, Chow Mei begged Cheng, who stood with the bodies of fallen gangsters all around him, to stop the slaughter and turn him self in._

"_Give up, just Give in."_

_Jann Lee's expression gave way into one that answered Lei Fang's question and ever so carefully, he brought her into a gentle, hesitant kiss_

* * *

The sky was overcast the next day and felt strangely foreboding, it unsettled Lei Fang ,but she chalked it up to the hangover she had. She had overslept and missed Jann Lee's match. She heard later from Hitomi that it had been very quick and very painful for the other guy. Hitomi also said that it looked like Jann Lee was looking for somebody and had elbowed her playfully. She supposed it was possible. They had developed a routine at these sort of things; where he would come out of the arena, they would exchange retorts and part ways. She shrugged, they could miss sniping at one another once in 7 years. She spent her day training and sparing with Eliot, Gen Fu and Hitomi. Kokoro and Tina who were both new to this particular tournament had matches. She was very surprised to find Jann Lee walk up to her in the middle of a practice bout with Eliot. 

"We need to talk," he said, getting straight to the point.

"Hello to you too" she said shaking her head at him with a smile, "I heard your match went well."

"This is no time for niceties. I need to talk to you alone, now." He said gruffly

She looked at him hard. He had no time for her before and now he wanted to chat?

"I'm in the middle of training. If you really want to chat, then favor me with a practice match." She suggested. Eliot backed off the mat and to a corner of the room a safe distance away. He had seen these two fight a so called practice match before. They had looked more like they were trying to create mass destruction than train.

"I'll give you your match, just talk to me first." Jann Lee was resisting the urge to pull her out by her collar.

Lei Fang raised an eyebrow.

Something was wrong; he never turned down a practice bout.

She nodded and he led the way out.

"Where are we going?" She asked him

He scanned the area warily, he realized that the assassins could have been watching him or her at that very moment. He finally decided on the one place he knew he wouldn't be overheard.

"My room" he said gruffly.

She balked, it was not proper for her to be in there, especially if they were competing against one another, but something in the way he was acting compelled her to do so.

She walked into his room. It was almost exactly the same as her room except he had moved the bed to make a workout center for himself. Does he ever stop? She thought.

"Okay, what is it?" She asked as he shut the door. He looked at her for a long moment. She didn't look too much different from seven years ago really, a little more experienced, maybe but the same girl was there. He found for the first time in his life that he yearned for a simpler time.

"Qing zi Zheng has put a hit out on the two of us. I was told it's an anniversary gift to us."

"A what?! Are you serious?!" Her eyes almost popped out of her head and she sat down on the edge of his bed,

"I haven't seen Qing for 7 years! Why would he put a hit out on me?" Jann Lee turned away from her, avoiding her searchlight eyes.

Lei Fang didn't need him to speak to know the answer.

"I need you to withdraw from the tournament and get to somewhere safe until I handle this." He said seriously

"Are you joking? Absolutely not! I'm not going to leave you alone here! We will do this together!" She told him angrily, "It's my life at stake too"

"No, this isn't your fight. He shouldn't have involved you. It's not your world, Lei, it's mine. I'll take care of it."

"How dare you say someone trying to kill me is not my fight! And it would be my world if you let me in!" her expression was one of an individual picking an old bone. She was never going to let it go.

Jann was quiet then, he knew that he would never dissuade her. There was only one thing to do and he didn't like it at all.

"Prove it" he shifted into his fighting stance

"What?" she said blinking at the change in topic.

"Prove to me you belong in my world, Fight me."

There was a look in his battle worn face that she didn't like. He was serious. She had a feeling that this was the last time he would entertain her with such a bout. This was it, all or nothing.

She shifted into her Tai Chi Quan stance as she observed the surroundings. The room was small and held a ton of obstacles.

"I will win," She said, her usual cheerfulness had been fanned into a fire of righteous indignation.

It was on.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes: Well, I'm publishing this kind of late but I'd rather have it up now then wait four or five days as I'm not sure what's happing to my computer this weekend. Please be a little forgiving if there are spelling errors or word mistakes, I will get to them I promise. As always, enjoy. I feel a little iffy about how the scene between Jann and Lei played out Let me know what you think!

I don't own any of the DOA characters

Dragon and Phoenix: Chapter Five

This hotel's restaurant was famous all over Japan for its cuisine and this was there most prized delicacy, Tina told herself mentally as she looked down in distaste at her dish. The raw fish dauntingly looked back up at her. Apparently, the Chef though the head might make a nice garnish. Why can't they just cook the fish? Tina thought to herself, or better yet why can't they just serve hamburgers. Her dining companions had stop eating and were all staring at her. She had turned a sickly shade of green.

"Tina? Are you okay? Hitomi asked, concerned.

"I-I'm, I'm fine, love, really" She said shakily.

She was Tina Armstrong, damn it! World Wrestling Champion and a top contender at the DOA tournaments 4 years running, she was not going to let herself be beaten by a dead fish!

She grabbed her fork, slammed a piece into her mouth and swallowed. Her stomach didn't care who she was. It did not want whatever she had just shoved down her throat and started to protest.

"So," Tina said, shoving down more of the fish and trying to keep her stomach under control, "What happened to the Princess? Wasn't she supposed to join us for lunch?"

Hitomi shook her head, "I called her room three times, and no one was there."

"She went somewhere with Jann Lee," Eliot, who had wisely stuck to a chef salad, told her.

"It was really weird actually" he recalled with a frown; salad fork posed by his mouth. "He stormed over in the middle of the practice match and demanded to talk to her right away. He even promised to fight with her after, just that she needed to come with him right now. I waited for her for awhile after that, you know Lei always comes back to finish a match,"

Hitomi nodded

"but she never came."

Tina smiled, drawing the wrong conclusion. "Ah, it sounds like old Jann finally decided to confess his feelings. Good, about time those two got together."

The entire party looked at Tina as though she had finally lost it.

"Uh, No, I don't think Jann is the 'I need to confess right now type'" Hitomi said, wondering how her friend came up with these sort of things.

"Maybe he had to do it then or he'd lose his nerve?" The until now quiet Kokoro mused.

Hitomi shot her a look as if to say, don't encourage her.

"Could be true," Tina said fantasizing, "maybe he proposed!" She said, excited, "I wonder when the wedding will be?"

"Tina, finish your fish." Hitomi said exasperated. She didn't think her two friends who spent their free time ether pummeling each other or training to pummel each other would get married anytime soon.

"Whatever Jann had to say, I hope that nothing's wrong. It takes a lot for him to approach anyone, even Lei Fang, and she's know him since they were kids."

At the table next to them, a stake enthused Russian man had stopped eating to listen to their conversation. A piece of meat hung out of his mouth as he concentrated on what was said.

Kokoro's face mirrored the worried look that Hitomi wore. "Eliot? When did Lei go off with Jann?"

"About two hours ago" He said grimly. The party was silent; all that could be heard was Tina battling with her fish and her stomach.

"What could they be talking about for two hours?" Tina said, munching away at her fish. It wasn't really so bad, once you acquired the taste for it. Unfortunately, her stomach didn't agree and rather violently decided voice its opinion.

"Maybe we should go…" was cut off as Tina suddenly stood up, "I'm gonna be sick!" she moaned, spasmed violently to the floor and vomited. The restaurant was in an uproar as waiters and restaurant staff rushed to see if Tina was alright and restaurant patrons rushed to get away from her. Her friends, their conversation for the moment forgotten, tried to help her up, and get her into a chair.

Amid the confusion, the door slammed. The Russian man had left without paying his check.

Lei Fang panted hard, her muscles felt like jelly. Sweat poured from her skin, causing her outfit to cling to her body. Every part of her body wanted to give out, to fall in heap to the floor and just pass out. She was conscious and moving out of sheer will. She watched him as he moved. Even though the room was not what she would consider large, he still easily had enough room to circle around her. His face betrayed nothing of what he was thinking. He was tired too and as damp, his breathing as labored as hers. Their matches had never lasted this long, in fact Lei Fang didn't think she ever heard of a match that had lasted two hours before. In her almost delirious state, she was happy at the thought that they might have broken a record. He was poised to strike again, his feet carefully dancing around the various broken objects in the room. Lei Fang brought herself up to block with the same swiftness. Their pace was slowing now. Neither could keep going much longer, it was almost over; they both felt it. She didn't know if she had enough strength left for an attack, but didn't think she would win if she continued to defend. She could wait for him to slip up, catch his wrist and end it; she didn't think he would be able to get up if she slammed him into the wall again. At the same time, she could attack him now, hopefully throw him off balance and get in a swipe to the jaw. If he broke through her defense during either scenario it was over for her. She was dead certain of that. Even willpower can only stand up to so much. It was Jann that decided to move first. Even tired he was like lightening. His war cry had lost some of its prowess, but it still sounded in her ears as he punched. She grabbed his wrist and slammed him into the wall. His arm lashed out and grabbed her around the waist before she could complete the move. Oh shit, Lei Fang thought, before he had even made his next move, he got me. She braced for the blow that would send her no doubt spiraling into unconsciousness. Instead, he pulled her to him and held her tightly in his arms.

She's improved, he thought to himself. If she didn't favor the 'wrist catch, wall smash' as much as she did she might have won. She really is a Tai Chi Quan genius, he thought, looking down at her small, shaking form with respect. She was just as tired as he was. Her struggling hesitantly and exhaustively ended and she lay almost limply on his chest, eyes closed. He realized that he'd never held her before, not like this. She was light, her skin felt smooth and feathery against his, her hair sliding like silk around his arms. He couldn't remember a time where they had touched like this that hadn't been in a fight. The planes of her body which he had gotten to know so well were always set against him in battle. Every touch, stroke and embrace had been part of the intricate game they had played, stubbornly and relentlessly throughout the years. This fight had been a mistake, he realized tiredly. He loosened his grip slightly and she flared back to life, desperately trying to break away. She glared up at him, spent, but the fire had never left her eyes. He looked back at her impassively, tired to the bone.

Did she hate him? Did he hate her?

Elsewhere he knew there were couples who to show devotion to one another held hands, took long walks on the sea shore and laughed together. The wilder ones even got tattoos of each others names. He knew the men in these couples were kind and caring, would never strike their women.

They were different.

He had struck out at her so many times, making invisible memories on her flesh. He had slammed her, kicked her and made her body take flight against its will. He had criticized, berated and judged her. Those were not signs of a loving relationship; but hadn't she done the same. She matched him blow for blow, scar for scar. She had taunted him, accused him and rebuked him. And what did it do? It somehow always managed to make them better. whatever the relationship between was it was strong, and it showed in the way they moved, interacted and fought. She struggled again and he moved one of his hands up to the back of her head, effectively holding her in place. He couldn't stand her, he really couldn't. Her closeness to him plagued him, his mind tired and conflicted. She was like a drug something he had tried hard to quit but he just kept coming back to. He had allowed her to follow him to the DOA tournaments. He had inadvertently made sure that she always knew where he was. Jann knew deep down if he had really wanted to he could have disappeared to somewhere she could never find him. His mind snapped back to the task at hand. He had allowed this to happen. He had fallen into the exact same trap years ago that he had promised himself he would never allow him or anyone he cared about to be in. He breathed deeply and felt her take the deep breath with him. She was calmer now, he was fairly certain he could let her go without being struck, and he did.

She stayed where she was for a moment, listening to his heartbeat. In all of there fights she had never been this close to his chest for so long. The pounding of his heart against his rib cage and the sound of the blood rushing through his veins were hypnotic. She barely noticed the release of pressure that meant he had freed her. She swayed slightly as she separated herself from him. For the first time in her life, standing on her own two feet felt strange. She needed to sit down but couldn't. Despite the broken physical contact, they were only centimeters away from each other. There was an odd sort of electricity that hovered around them, connecting and separating them at the same time.

"Who won?" She asked in a whisper, most likely breathless.

Despite his fatigue, he grinned inwardly. She _was_ tired, if she was leaving the decision up to him. It occurred to him that he could claim he won and force her to leave.

It was simple; it was easy; it wasn't true and despite the danger that currently surrounded them he knew he couldn't do it.

He respected her too much. He just hoped that his respect didn't kill her.

"It was a draw," he mumbled. The words tried to stick to his mouth, but he forced them to be clear and pronounce.

She smiled faintly. "So what does that mean?"

"I don't know," he said honestly, "but I stand by what I said" wearily attempting to move forward, she stepped back nervously, and he collapsed into one of the chairs that hadn't, miraculously been upturned.

That made her furious. "I already told you, I'm not going anywhere. I refuse to leave you here alone. Get used to it."

He locked eyes with her for a brief moment, before he liquidly darted out of the chair, drawing on a last resreve of strength. She wasn't expecting it. It was impossible! He was spent, like her. She had no defense that she could prepare quick enough. He caught both her wrists and slammed her against the wall. Her eyes flashed at him, open, accusatory, questioning. Before he could stop himself, remove himself from the situation, his lips slid over hers. She tried to break away, thrashing. She wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp. How dare he trick her like that? Pretending that they were finished, pretending that just this once she hadn't lost. She tried to kick out and his response was to pin her body down with his.

The electricity on her lips screamed for some kind of response from her. His kiss had infected her with his passion. The worst part was she had secretly longed for this. Despite her ambitions to win, despite her stubborn instance never to submit to him and her demands to meet him halfway. Some part of her, which she didn't know whether or not to be mad at it, wanted to be protected and coddled by him. A part that longed for an embrace instead of a chokehold and a caress instead of a uppercut. Slowly, her inner defenses gave out as she began to return his kiss, lightly at first and then matching him in passion. She made a half hearted effort to escape, but he only forced her back. It was several minutes before he broke the kiss and whispered into her ear.

"Do you remember the tri tower, when I asked you if we should die together, what you said?"

With those words he violently pushed her away from him and punched her as hard as he was still able to in the stomach.

The shock showed in her eyes for a split second as she fell forward, replaced by unconsciousness as they shut.

"_I'm not going to die"_

He swiftly picked her up and placed her on the bed. He let his eyes linger on her sleeping form for a moment before leaving the room.

No, she wasn't going to die.

He wouldn't let her.

* * *

_Hong Kong, seven years ago_

_Boss Yuen sighed into his cigarette as he gazed out on Hon Kong at night. He was getting old, too old for his petty squabbles with Zheng. He knew that if he wanted to live to enjoy his old age, he had to end their feuding once and for all. The matter was hastened by the fact that Zheng's sudden alliance with the Lions and highly successful war on the tigers were making the underworld less and less afraid of the name Dragon. Despite what he fed his men, the only thing he was here for was profit, and being in business with Zheng was more profitable right now than being in business without him. The elevator chimed open and Yuen turned back to the restaurant to survey its occupants. His was the only table occupied. He didn't need witness for this deal and his only guards were members of his own family. Nobody would know about this. Boss Zheng, who was getting on in years as well, was still as intimidating as when they were young guns. His guards were the particularly famous Xiao and Qing Zi Zheng, who as well as being know for the ruthlessness, cunning and cruelty, were also Boss Zheng's adopted sons, His heirs. Yuen chucked, so Zheng knows what I'm up to? He thought, or he suspects._

_The party in question reached Yuen's table and sat down. The meeting began rather abruptly._

"_So you want to settle this off the street?" Zheng asked, his voice ringing out in the empty restaurant. "I always knew the lines you fed your subordinates about being an honorable gangster were shit."_

_Yuen shrugged, Zheng raised an eyebrow, he had been expecting answer. Not getting one, he continued unfazed._

"_You're lucky that I don't mind settling with you this way. It makes it so that the tigers have nowhere to run. I happen to like that." He said silkily, he reclined regally as a waitress came to take their order. "Qing, tell him the deal." Qing nodded coolly_

"_This is how it goes, old man," He said, "The fact of the matter is there are just too many of your subordinates that might sign up with the Tigers if you simply disbanded or who would fight Snakes control of the Dragons. Plus, you just giving in won't give Xiao and I a tale to tell our grandkids now, will it? No, we want a formal, unbiased, face off" _

_Qing smiled with sarcasm. _

_"The Great Dragons will be taken down by sheer White Snakes might. Here is the list of the men we are going to purge from our new asset, did we miss anybody?" Xiao handed the list to one of Yuen's bodyguards, who in turn handed it to Yuen. He went over the list brusquely. There were a lot of fine men on this list. Two of which he had considered for his daughter's hand in marriage. He shook his head. It was a shame, but business was business, after all. His eyes lingered however on the last three names._

"_Zheng, you want to decommission Jann Lee? He's an excellent strategist and one of my most jaded and disaffected men. I'd think you'd want to turn him, and Lao Zhi is just plain harmless. The last person isn't even in my Gang, we don't recruit women._

_Boss Zheng, placed his arm companion around his adopted son, whose hand was rubbing his left eye thoughtfully. "Don't you worry about it, Yuen. Qing here just has a score to settle._

"_Well then, far be it for me to keep him from settling it. I just ask that I be allowed to retain these 10. Don't worry, they're just married to family members. My daughters would be very sad if their husbands didn't come home._

"_Send them out of the city then. Come tomorrow night; every dragon on the list goes down." Qing smiled evilly. Yuen said a last minute pray for his men, he had no doubt they were all dead, but somebody had to pray for them. Once they got to heaven, they were going to have a lot of explaining to do._

_Lei Fang's heart was still fluttering from the night before. Sure it had been just one kiss, that he had immediately apologized for and somehow tried to blame on the movie, but he had kissed her. It had been the best birthday the giddy sixteen year old had ever had. She was practically dancing in the street as she went to meet Lao for a quick bite before one of his and Jann's meetings that they were always attending. Apparently, it looked like something big was going down, but Lao didn't know what. The street lights flickered on, as she elbowed her way through the crowded street. She was never going to get there on time like this. She noticed a back alley that was a straight shot to the street which housed their favorite dumpling store. It was a long walk though. She could handle whatever was in an alley she was sure, so she quickly turn right when the cloud open and walked into the dingy alley air. These places were disgusting, but it beat the street traffic. The further she got into the alleyway the more she had the feeling that some one was following her. A trashcan crashed nosily behind her and she spun around her skirt spinning up with her. She calmed when she saw an alley cat run away sheepishly. It was getting darker now and the alley had no lights. She broke out into a run and suddenly a shadow cut off her exit._

"_Hey, Little Sister! What are you doing in an alleyway, don't you know there are things that go bump in the night in places like that?", _

_Lao said funnily to her melting away her fears. How had he managed to see her coming from the alleyway? The sign of the dumpling place shined brightly over head, chasing away the shadows. Shall we? Lao asked as Lei Fangs belly rumbled. She laughed and they went inside. On the wall next to the Alleyway stood a young looking man all in black. He lit a cigarette nonchalantly and puffed away as he attempted to wipe trash can sludge off his pant leg. Seeing the two of them settle in inside, he too settled in, to wait._

* * *

His fingers thudded on the oak side table angrily as Bayman waited for his call to go through. China wasn't that far away. 

"Xiao here, you aren't suppose to be calling, Bayman. The boss will be displeased."

"You are using a disposable cell phone, buy a new one" he suggested icily, "we have a problem."

"What might that be?"

"Jann Lee knows about the hit, somebody blabbed."

"Is that all, Bayman, I'm surprised at you, flinching so easily"

Bayman didn't like the oily tone in the Chinese man's voice. Something was wrong here.

"Plans have changed, Bayman. The Boss wants to handle this himself. Stay put until you here from us. We will inform the woman. Continue with measures to make sure she is the one held solely responsible."

Bayman was growing icily angrier by the second.

"Oh, and Bayman?"

"Yes?"

"That new phone is coming out of your check."

The other line went dead. Bayman flipped his phone shut, crushed in his hand, so that it was barely recognizable as a phone and tossed it into a trash can. He didn't like this. He knew One Eyed Qing the Snake pretty well, and something sneaky was going on that didn't sit right with him. He went off to make the arrangements that had been ordered; as well as a few, 'Back up' plans of his own.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note: Wow, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I was in the middle of finals and I had no ieda how to introuce Qing into the present day storyline. I hope I did a good job. Finals are still going on so the next update will be when they are done. I went over it for spelling and word errors, but the check was kind of fast. I'll go over it again in the future.

Midnight 007: I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reading!

Jann the Dragon: I'm sorry it took me so long! I know I told you to give me a week! I'm sorry! This is my longest chapter yet, so I hope you enjoy. Have you really read it 15 times?

The Regal King Hotel was a very busy place at the center of Tokyo. Things of importance happened there every day, the closing of business deals, diplomatic negotiations, high profile weddings and the like. It was easy for things of lesser importance to slip under the radar, which was perhaps why nobody noticed the arrival of two very important men, even though their positions in the world spoke otherwise.

The first came rather quietly and humbly, a large backpack filled with everything her could ever need on his back. His clothing was made of cheap cotton and his sandals were rough against the fine carpet. It was safe to say this man was wholly out of place. His face however spoke of dire concern. He was here on a mission, looking for three people, a man he had met just once, and only knew the first name of, Ryu, and two childhood friends, who were currently in danger, although exactly how much danger he was sure they weren't aware. He had to find them all before _He_ showed up. Things in this hotel were about to get ugly fast, and he was sure he was the only means of preventing that.

"What did you do!"

Hayabusa's voice displayed mild alarm as he stepped into the wrecked bedroom. Hayate's eyebrows flew up as he followed suit, insisting on coming after Jann had appeared at their door, beaten half to death and asking for Ryu's help. It wasn't clear whether here was talking about the total disarray of the room or Lei Fang's battered, unconscious body. Jann ignored the question; He gently lifted her up, careful of her head, and thrust her at him.

"Take her somewhere safe, far from here, until this blows over" he said

"What happened" he asked, staring. A bruise was beginning to form on her jaw.

"I told her everything, told her to go, she refused and that was something I couldn't accept." He said, somehow serene despite how panicked he felt under the surface. "I need you to get her out of here, so I can settle this unhindered. You owe me," he reminded the ninja.

Hayabusa was silent for a long moment. "I do not agree with your methods. Beating her to a pulp doesn't solve anything and makes her useless should we encounter a fight." contempt seeped like acid through his composure. Jann Lee ignored that too.

"Just take her… please".

The please was added on as an afterthought, but it somehow rang desperate to the three of them.

Ryu hesitated, but Hayate carefully took the girl from Jann's arms. He looked at him and a moment of understanding passed between the two of them. Hayate understood, although Jann wasn't quite sure why or how.

"I know a safe place, relatively far from here." He said quietly, "Come with us to our room so you can show you where to join up with us when you are finished with your business."

He nodded dumbly. He didn't know what to say really. He had done nothing for Hayate; unlike Ryu they had no working relationship. He hadn't even fought the man all that much. Yet here he was, selflessly helping Lei Fang and himself, even without knowing what trouble they were in, or what was in it for him personally. Normally, he wouldn't have accepted such help. He was an eye for an eye kind of guy. He wouldn't allow a favor to be done for him without doing one in return, and he didn't like doing favors. Oddly enough, perhaps the fatigue of the fight caused it, all he felt was relief. His muscles relaxed and he felt oddly faint. Ryu raised him up by his arm, fingers barely touching the other man's muscle. He hadn't even realized he had begun to sag.

"She wouldn't go down without one hell of a fight, would she?" he said, his voice tinged slightly with distain as he surveyed the room and his body. He pulled a flask filled with a jade green liquid off his belt.

"Drink" he said curtly.

He tried not to think about what the liquid would taste like with that coloring and downed it in one gulp.

It was cold, it was herbal and it was nasty.

Instantly coolness spread throughout his entire body. His muscles, limp before, suddenly felt rejuvenated. He broke from Ryu's hold totally energized.

Huh, so that's how they stayed so fresh in the survival matches.

"Thanks," he said genuinely to the still perturbed ninja. "Let's go, I don't want to be around when she wakes up."

Hayate disappeared in a light mist, Lei Fang in his arms.

Ryu took another appraising glance at Jan Lee. "You crossed a line, Jann"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jann asked.That tone in his voice was getting annoying. So Ryu disapproved? He disapproved of a lot of the things he did. Jann was a big boy, and not much younger than Ryu himself. He didn't need a lecture.

"Did you ever stop to think of the consequences of your so called noble act when she wakes up? She fought like hell to stay with you and you beat her up and threw her away." The ninja stated coldly, his stare matching his voice.

Jann's look and tone rose to match the ninja's "As long as she safe, I don't care about how she feels afterward. I have to protect her."

"That's protecting her? Making her helpless? Did it ever occur to you that she didn't want to be protected that way? That perhaps she was trying to do the protecting?" The ninja's voice was even and low, but it boomed in Jann's ears.

"You don't understand…" He began angrily, but Ryu cut him off.

"No, you don't understand. She's not a child; she has a right to make her own choices. You have no right to take them away from her."

"She shouldn't have to live with what I have to do" he said shaking his head

"People shouldn't have to live with a lot of things. They do anyway." He sighed, "I did a little background check, after we last spoke, Jann the Dragon. She's been living with things she shouldn't have to for a long time." He gave one last sweeping glance, "You don't deserve her." And he vanished.

He was not offended that Ryu had left him to walk to Hayate and his room. He needed a few minutes to clear his head anyway. He had crossed lines before, broken chains, both ones he had wanted to break and ones he hadn't. In the end, he had survived. Deep down, though something that Ryu had said pulled on his heart. She would be furious when she woke up, would she hate him for it?

So deep was his train of thought that he didn't recognize the man in the hall until after he had said his name three times.

"Jann! Jann Lee! Thank the Gods I've found you!"

At first, he didn't recognize him. The past seven years had taken its toll on him. His baby face had thinned out, showing a tough bone structure. He had lost weight too, apparently when running a ramen stand you couldn't eat your own merchandise. He had a small scar on his eyebrow that hadn't been there before, distinguishing him as a boxer. His eyes suddenly widened with recognition.

"Hong? Hong Chen?"

Hong smiled at him, and the smile reminded Jann briefly of better days. The man's face grew dark.

"Look, I have something we need to discuss, where is Lei?" He asked

"Not here" He said calmly. There were too many ghosts coming back this week. What next, was Lao going to rise from the dead?

No, Lao was dead and would never come back.

"Like I believe that, she's always been two steps behind you" He said skeptically. "Look it concerns both of you, so I want to tell both of you."

"We know about the hit, Hong, you're a little late on that one." He said. Hong blocked his passage down the hallway.

"It's not just that, I know something about his operations in Nanjing. It's rumored that you turned traitor against the gangs and have been helping informants for the government. I need to know where to take the information.

Jann appraised the man. He had been the only one not to get involved in the gang wars and he had been neutral when everyone had chosen a side. He had extended his hand to Jann Lee numerous times at his own peril. I can trust him, he thought uneasily. There was something going on here that tugged at his mind, that didn't feel right. Regardless, he motioned for Hong to follow.

Above them, a man sat in the air shaft. His sack sat next to him, blocking the air flow. It was a little cramped, but he had bigger problems right now.They had gotten to Jann Lee first. Shit.

This was bad; he had been counting on Jann Lee's natural suspiciousness to at least stave them off for an hour or two. Perhaps he was more sentimental then he let on. His only way of helping him now was to follow from the shadows and take out the enemy when he revealed himself. Jann Lee would never believe his intentions otherwise. Wounds he had helped to cause ran too deep. He sidled down the vent, pulling his bag as he tried to follow them.

Hayate was in the room alone when Jann and Hong entered. The unconscious Lei Fang lay bandaged and salve had been rubbed into most of her visible wounds. She would heal nicely. He was relieved to see that. Hayate looked at the newcomer and then back at Jann Lee.

"Where's Ryu? This guy has some information for him." Jann said, distractedly. His mind wouldn't let his thoughts leave Lei Fang.

"He's running a short errand for me. He'll be back momentarily. Take a seat." There was only one chair, which Hong took. Jann sat on the bed, his hand brushing hers ever so slightly. His mind went unwillingly to the kiss before. It had been an accident, and yet, there was an incredible feeling of rightness in that kiss that he had never felt before anywhere, with anyone. He hadn't had many people he would consider close over the past seven years, or even before, in fact she was the only person still alive that he would consider close. The only other had been Lao. The knowledge of the made his resolve harder. He didn't need comrades in battle. It was a risk he couldn't take, not again.

_Hong Kong, Seven Years ago_

_The warehouse wasn't such an odd place to meet. The men milled around anxiously anyways. Something didn't feel right. Jann knew wasn't the only one suspecting something out of place. Yuen was late and none of the generals or commanders with any clout were here. It smelled wrong anyway you looked at it. On top of it, Lao was late. He was always late, but he was later than usual and that didn't sit well on his stomach either. He sat, nervous, on a large crate next to the window. Two of the older members approached him and they all bowed slightly before speaking to each other._

"_Dragon, did Boss Yuen speak to you at all?" The man who spoke was a burly old timer named Gao; he was close to retirement actually and had worked with Jann on many of the cleaning up the port assignments. He knew that Boss Yuen had respect for Jann's abilities even though he was a youngster._

"_Not a word," Jann told him, "Gao, I don't like this."_

"_I work with Yuen's Son in Law, Kai Wong, He was unexpectedly sent out of the city tonight. Even though this big meeting had been called." The other man, Mu, said_

_The alarm bells sounding in Jann's head grew louder._

_"Have either of you seen Lao zhi?"_

_Gao nodded, "earlier he was at that dumpling shop he always goes to downtown. He was with a pretty little girl too. I wasn't aware he had a girl to tease him about." the older man chuckled._

_Jann thought fast, if he's with Lei Fang, he could still be there, maybe he could get to him before he came down._

"_Spread the word that something's not right, get the people who are the least able to fight out first." He told them._

_Just then searchlights from the overhead catwalk snapped on, blinding them all, Jann didn't bother shielding his eyes. He knew the silhouette of the man standing next to it as well as he knew his own shadow. _

_Qing. _

_They were in trouble._

"_Gentleman, the White Snakes are here to inform you that your beloved Boss Yuen, The gentleman mobster, has agreed to a merger with us! From henceforth, the Golden Dragons will be known as the White Dragons."_

_Murmurs of disbelief and discontent flooded the room. Jann realized too late what this meeting really was. None of these men would ever work for Boss Zheng. Despite what they were, they had morals. It was a contradictory code, true, but it was the one they lived by and one boss Zheng openly opposed. This was a purging._

_He wasn't the only one who figured it out as men headed for the doors only to be stopped by former dragons wearing white snakes' colors. So this was how it was going to be. Those who could be turned would prove their loyalty to the new regime by killing their own brothers. _

_He cursed as the men fell back to the center of the room. They were surrounded by all sides and out numbered. This could end badly. Eyes turned to him, the only one of Yuen's strategists to be purged and flicked back to the men. They were depending on him._

"_Stay tight and concentrate on getting to the left exit." He shouted to them. We have no hope of wining in here." As an after thought he let out a cry, and every man who had selected to be killed cried with him. "Golden Dragons!"_

"_You've made me late again." Lao admonished playfully as he and Lei Fang jovially walked through the streets of Hong Kong back to her house. It was cold out and snow had begun to fall. The dispute over her neighborhood had gotten a bit fierce, and he didn't want her walking around by herself. _

_Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the man behind them. He noticed him at the dumpling shop and had assumed that he was interested in Lei Fang. He had made a great show of acting like her boyfriend, hoping that would be enough to drive him off. Unfortunately, he was beginning to suspect that the man was here for different reasons. Three men stepped out of a nearby alleyway, blocking their route. Two more joined the man behind them. Lao cursed inwardly and Lei fang looked at them first with confusion and then with annoyance. She hadn't quite grasped the trouble they were in. She had a knack for doing that. She walked forward brazenly, "Excuse me" she said unafraid. One of the men smiled and made and attempted to push her back; an attempt that was thwarted when she grabbed him by the wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. She fell into her fighting stance easily as the remaining gangsters stared at their comrade, back at the cute little girl in the adorable mini skirt and back again._

"_Bravo, Lei Fang" said a voice that was vaguely familiar to her. Another man stepped out of the alleyway and Lao immediately moved closer to Lei Fang, warily watching the men around them. He too had moved in to a loose fighting stance, he was nowhere near as good as Jann, but had been sparing with him for most of there lives. He could handle himself in a fight against goons. Unlike Lei Fang, He recognized the man instantly. _

"_Xiao zi Zheng," he seethed, "Leave her out of this"_

"_But she already involved herself so nicely," Xiao said, smiling them both looking devilish in the low light of the lamps. One of the men kicked his fallen comrade. The man was out cold. _

_Xiao sighed, "good help is so hard to find nowadays. Take for example your Boss Yuen; He sold you and all the Golden Dragons with honor out to Boss Zheng so he could take up early retirement. Any help that you would have gotten is probably being slaughtered at the warehouse right now. Qing's probably taking care of Jann Lee right now. He's still quite unhappy about losing the sight in his left eye." _

_Lao eyes widened and his stance faltered, "No…"_

"_And as nice as this little chat has been, I have orders to kill you both and present your bodies to Qing, he wants Jann to see you both before he joins you." He laughed easily as he gave the signal and the men lunged forward at them._

_They fought and died, falling with honor attempting to get their remaining allies to the door. Jann had turned into his name, the dragon, he wasn't as strong as all the men in front him, but he was more agile. He moved with a speed and grace the startled the most seasoned fighters. The enemy fell with his roar sounding in their ears. The pure brute force in his fist shattered bones and flung them out of the way. Qing rolled his eyes and dropped down from the catwalk. _

_If you want something done right…_

_Jann went at him, at first not realizing who it was. He had turned into a dragon, a slaughterer, and protector as the men who fought along side him edged closer to the door. He only recognized his opponent through his graceful, snakelike strikes and an agility that almost matched his own._

_Then behind him he heard a dragon shout confirmation, "It's the one eyed Snake! He's fighting Jann the Dragon!"_

_Qing parried Jann's strikes easily and caught him under the chin with an uppercut. He caught Jann's exposed neck and punched him in the stomach. Blood spurted out of his mouth as he broke Qing's hold and twisted his lower half up, catching him under the chin and forcing him back, he roared and let loose three punches straight into Qing's stomach, then came around with a round house kick to his face. Qing dodged the kick and slipped passed Jann's defense; pinning him to the floor._

"_Be happy in the knowledge that when you go to hell, you won't be alone. In addition to your comrades, Xiao is out personally taking care of Lao Zhi and Lei Fang, so your boyfriend and your slut will join you as well. One happy family."_

_ Suddenly Jann had the strength of twenty Qings. He threw the other man off his body and slammed him by his throat into the wall over and over again. Meanwhile, the handful of dragons that were left had made it to the door. "Jann!" Gao shouted. He slammed Qing into the wall one last time and darted for the door. Sadly, an escape was not to be had for the last of the golden dragons. Jann was barely able to get out of the way before the machine gun fire started. Men who had devoted their entire lives to the use of their bodies as weapons were easily outmatched by bullets. The screamed as they fell and Jann Lee suddenly broke out in a cold sweat as he realized he was the only one left. Using Qing's head as a launching point, he jumped out the window and was away before the gunman noticed him. Beaten and bloody, he ran with a supernatural speed through the streets toward Lao and Lei. He prayed to god he wasn't too late. _

_The goons had been easy enough. Lei Fang was a martial art prodigy after all, but even she could only defend against so many and they kept multiplying. Xiao had made Lao's death his own personal mission and as much as she tried to beat her way through the hordes of men to get to him for every two she took down four more popped up. It was like weeds in the garden. Lao's fight was going badly. He had always been more of a lover than a fighter, and never was this more apparent. It seemed that every block he made was countered and a more devastating blow was tacked on._

"_I really wonder how you survived this long, Lao. Wasn't it you who Yuen was hoping to be the prodigy? I guess it was really all Jann Lee after all. You are completely worthless." He forced him to his knees and kicked him in the chest. Blood gushed out of his mouth like a river; indicating heavy internal bleeding. Xiao stopped. The fight was over. There was no way Lao could survive that. He grabbed the dying man by the hair and threw him to the ground. All around them snow swirled._

"_Lao! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lei Fang screamed, voice cracking as she finally broke threw the line of thugs and ran to her friend. The gangsters loomed but Xiao held up a hand._

"_Give the lady a moment," he said, almost laughing, "It's the last she'll have."_

_She pulled Lao's head onto her lap. His eyes fluttered faintly._

"_Little sister," he said wetly and coughed up blood._

_Tears poured from her eyes, "I'm here Lao, I'm here." She cooed. He smiled slightly as tears fell on his face._

"_Aw, don't cry, little sister, I don't want to go to the great beyond knowing I made a girl cry."_

_She almost laughed through her tears as she tried to wipe them away._

"_Little sister? It's getting dark, I can't see you." He coughed again and his face took on a strained look_

"_Take care of Jann…promise me…" He said softly, his mouth curled in a smile._

"_I promise" She said, it came out as a sob._

"_Thanks…I always… wished… that… you were really… my... little sister."_

_His hand that had been reaching toward her face dropped suddenly as the air, frigid, left his lungs. Her face became totally alarmed as fast as his became eternally serene._

"_Lao! Lao! Speak to me, Lao!" She shouted, shaking his corpse._

"_There, there," Xiao mocked soothed, "don't cry, you'll be joining him in a few minutes."_

_The goons loomed overhead as an uncontrollable rage seethed throughout Lei Fang's body. She attacked without thinking, without seeing. Like an animal in pain. The goons fell swiftly, but Xiao was harder. He caught he delicate wrist and snapped it. The pain of the bone breaking jarred her back to reality. He regrouping goons stayed behind Xiao as he prepared to attack her. She ran at him and he knocked her back into the alley. Despite the wrist she stood, full of fury and ready for the oncoming attack._

_A roar sound through the urban cavern as Jann Lee announced his presence. He swirled kicked spun and caught the goons standing at the mouth of the alleyway of guard. Leaping over Xiao, he landed next to the girl._

"_Where's Lao?" he asked._

_Her face took on a look that told him everything even before she squeezed out the words._

"_He's… He's dead, Jann" She said thickly._

_His face went slack and hollow as he absorbed the news. He felt empty, he felt as though nothing existed._

"_You got away from Qing?" Xiao said nervously, backing away. "That wasn't supposed to happen." _

"_Xiao…" Jann said, a rumble began in his stomach and brushed through his chest on the way to his fist. He said nothing more but simply released carnage upon all who stood there. "He couldn't have been human", the goons that were caught and questioned by the Hong Kong police would later claim, in hysterics. "He was so fast; there was so much blood…" The cops couldn't get anything beyond that._

_Xiao saw nothing as Jann Lee began to beat him to death. It was not painless and not unexpected. As Jann had once said, when he had ruined one of their dock operations after the white snakes had leaked Dragon presence in a certain political party to the cops; an Eye for and eye, a deal for a deal. Xiao was certain that policy extended to a life for a life. He didn't blame anyone but himself, he fully expected to die here and now._

"_Stop, please! _

_Suddenly the beating stopped. Pain flooded the still movable parts of Xiao's body._

"_Get out of the way, Lei Fang!" Jann shouted, the snow made him look like he was foaming at the mouth._

"_You can't kill him! Don't become what's he's become! He's a murderer, and you're not!"_

_He grabbed the girl roughly by the shoulders, the grief and rage was making him crazed._

"_You want me to just walk away, to leave Lao unavenged?" his deep voice boomed in her ears._

"_Let the cops handle it" she said shaking._

"_He'll go free", he tossed her back and in an effort to make it out of this alive, Xiao grabbed her. But his strength was spent and she easily shook him off. Jann turned to punch him and he ran off as fast as he could in his state._

_Jann stood, goons in pieces all around him. The cold wind stung at his shirtless chest and open wounds. He looked up and the moon was full. He looked back at Lei Fang._

"_As of this day, our association is finished," he said coldly "I never want to see you again."_

_A horrified look crossed her face, "But why? Jann…" She placed her good hand on his arm and he shook her off. "I promised Lao I would take care of you." She said quietly and he laughed._

"_Take care of me? You can barely take care of yourself." He said this despite the fact that nearly half of the wiped out goons had been taken down by her. He knelt down and picked up Lao's lifeless body. "Go home, Lei Fang, go back to your happy world and stay there. You don't belong in mine." He walked away then, limping and carrying the body of the person that to the two of them had been on of the most important people in the world._

_She stood frozen like a statue. The cold turning her lips blue. _

"_I can protect myself," she shouted after him. "I'll prove it to you! I belong in your world!" The snow fell harder, covering the bloodstained ground with its purity._

Ryu knocked lightly on the door of the hotel room and wondered why Hayate wasn't doing this himself. He was involved into many tragic romances already. The door swung open.

"Lei?" a sweet, worried female voice asked, when she was who it was she was puzzled "Ryu?"

"Hello, Hitomi. Haya…I mean Ein, has asked me to tell you that Lei Fang is fine, that she needed to be removed from the hotel for her own safety and he will tell you when she comes out of hiding."

"What on earth?" Hitomi didn't know what to ask about first, Ein or Lei Fang. She decided on Lei Fang.

"Is she going to be alright?" She dragged the ninja into the room, "Tell me everything"

The last seven years had treated Qing zi Zheng well. His choice of profession, mobster, had given him unique benefits to reap. One was the ability to settle old scores in as grand a fashion as he saw fit, and as business in Hong Kong, Beijing and Nanjing had been slow lately, he had decided to come to his rival's preferred country and settle their score himself. He walked in almost as if he owned the place, his minions around him on cell phones speaking quickly in Chinese; there boss' departure from the country had been unexpected and while he didn't have to deal with the consequences they did. After a quick check in he headed to the sweet. His two associates had already let themselves in.

"Bayman," his voice smooth and welcoming, "Old friend, so good to see you."

He turned to his friend's partner, "And this must be the lovely Christie; whose work in Hong Kong has been the talk of the town." He took Christie's hand and kissed it. She smirked, concealing her distaste for such a sentimentally stupid action.

"Charmed," she drawled in a tone that made Bayman smile despite himself. She made it clear in one word that the gangster didn't scare or impress her. Qing regarded her with her one eye.

"Well, I suppose you wonder why I'm here. One of my associates has been doing some talking apparently. I'm trying at this moment to flush out which one. Jann Lee and Lei Fang are alerted to my plans. So we have to change the game a little. One associate in Jann Lee's good graces is going to procure Lei Fang and we will lure him here. I want to take care of him myself. The two of you can kill the girl anyway you like.

Christie licked her lips excitedly. Despite the fact she didn't trust him; she was going to enjoy this.

"Now we sit back and wait."

"Wow…" Hitomi said as silence descended on her room. "I had no idea".

"She is safe, despite her own wishes" He told her, "don't worry"

He stood to leave, when suddenly there was a resounding crash through the ceiling and a provincial looking man and his backpack sat in front of Hitomi and Ryu.

"Ryu! Thank god!" The man said, "I had to warn you, the plan has changed for Lei Fang and Jann Lee. They've sent a childhood friend to kidnap her to bring Jann Lee to them. He's with them as I speak."

"What? " Ryu said; alarmed despite knowing Hayate was with them. It was the man from China who had given him the hit information to begin with.

"How do you know this? Who are exactly are you?"

"I'm Xiao zi Zheng."


	7. Chapter 7

Authors notes: Phew, that took forever to write. I actually had to sit back and think about how I was going to incorporate Hayate into the story for two weeks. Boggy, as always your reviews make me think. You made a good point about Hayate's saintly appearance. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that if I was going to involve the ninjas they had to be tied to the main plot, and not a little sub plot like I had planned. The resulting ideas have been incorporated into this chapter. A Semi important plot point have been revealed and is a little different from what I had planned. I did a quick sweep of the grammar and word errors and think I caught them all. I'll look again later to be sure. As always enjoy and let me know what you think. The story is drawing to a close I think, only four more chapters.

Update: I finally went over and corrected chapters 3 through 6 like I kept saying I was going to. There were no major changes. Just some reorganizing of paragraphs, respacing (The spacing in chapter 3 was driving me batty), flow and word error/spelling checks. I think they read better now, personally (especially chapter 3).

Lupi Loop, Midnight 007 and Jann the Dragon: Thanks for sticking with me, guys. Sorry it took so long. Lupi, I'm glad you liked the chemistry!

* * *

The Dragon and the Phoenix: Chapter 7 

Hayate watched the newcomer warily. The man took in the unconscious bandaged girl on the bed. Words seemed to hover on the tip of his tongue, but one quick glance from Hayate to Jann Lee, seemed to convince him to keep his mouth shut. So this was Ryu's contact from China, the one who had alerted them to the presence of a certain artifact in the hands of a Hong Kong mobster named Qing zi Zheng? The man didn't look all that impressive, however nothing in this particular case had been as it seemed. It had, on his end anyway, started as a simple search for an artifact of power that had been stolen from the clan years ago and ended up in the hands of said mobster. He had been even more surprised that the mobster was an old acquaintance of Jann Lee and Lei Fang, rather stunned actually. They both seemed above that. He contemplated quietly his sister's situation, from honored leader to runaway, and decided that maybe there were things in other people lives that they didn't plan for. Kasumi was no more of a traitor than Jann Lee was a gang member, things just happened and were taken care of the best they could. He remembered Ryu explaining Jann Lee's involvement procuring the information in Nanjing. He apparently hadn't gone completely undetected. Once they realized who he was, a hit was put out on his head and the head of Lei Fang, to goad him into settling things.

It was ironic actually; he thought as he watched Jann Lee pace up and down the room, restlessly. It certainly seemed as if he didn't have to be goaded into anything.

Perhaps that was why Ryu had come to him, concerned with possibly losing one of his best contacts in China as well as involving Lei Fang, an innocent. As it was, Hayate's own men had tried and failed to get back the artifact from this street gang. It was suspicious at best how a gang of seemingly ordinary thugs had managed to allude the Mugen Tenshin clan so adeptly. He had been unable to get anyone else in who could investigate, despite numerous attempts on both his and Ryu's parts. Hayate had seen how Jann could be used in the greater scheme. Qing's borderline obsession with his rival was well known. Using Jann as bait, they could draw Qing out of China and the artifact with him.

Although it was his own plan, it didn't sit well with him, especially the involvement of Lei Fang. He felt more for the woman than for the former street solider. He understood Ryu's contempt. Hayate's feelings ran deep for all three women in his life. He would not disarm his sisters or cripple Hitomi when an unavoidable fight was about to take place. However, if their involvement in the fight could be avoided, if possible death could be avoided, and they still insisted on throwing themselves into something they did not fully comprehend, then he would have knocked them out himself. The line between protection and suppression was razor thin. It was not a line he himself would have liked to walk.

His thoughts shifted. What was taking Ryu so long anyway? The newcomer stood up and jarred Hayate out of his train of thought.

"Is there a bathroom?" he asked Hayate who silently motioned down the hall, his eyes following the newcomer as he walked in to the next room.

Regardless, Hayate had a bad feeling about all this. It was a feeling that clamped down on his gut and wouldn't let go. He just hoped Ryu had found some way to talk Hitomi into leaving. He didn't want her here when the shit hit the fan, as he had once heard someone describe it.

In the bathroom, Hong moved quickly. The business he had to take care of was professional, not bodily. He closed the lid, sat down, and withdrew a light bamboo pipe from his pant leg. He carefully pulled three small darts from his sock and loaded the blowgun deftly. He hadn't expected to actually have to use it on anyone other than Lei Fang, but the big guy out there looked like he could be ninja. Hong knew better than to mess with one of those. He didn't know if his darts could actually take down the big guy, but it would have to do. He pulled out a radio, and whispered into it taking every precaution to be stealthy.

"Chen here, I found her. The problem is Jann Lee and a big guy are guarding her, they are waiting for a third man, Ryu, to show up before they leave."

There was crackling on the other end and to Hong's surprise, Qing's own voice crisply but quietly came through.

"Ryu Hayabusa?" He didn't sound surprised and cursed rather emphatically. "I thought I finished him off in Nanjing, apparently not. So Jann Lee was giving him help eh? How very sophisticated of those street rats. I'll send in a few distractions. Bring me Lei Fang alive, Hong. The life of your brother and his wife depend on it."

Static crackled on the other end on Hong cursed as he started to whistle loudly to cover it up. His stomach was in knots, he still had no idea how he had been pulled into this mess. He was an ordinary Ramen Shop owner and sometime college student, Full time student of one of the local pharmacists, specializing in poisons and antidotes. Sure, he grew up knee deep in street gang dealings but he had always stayed neutral. He never protested as they demanded more and more, always following the rules. The day he had come home to find his brother and his wife missing and the shop ransacked, he had been surprised to say the least. This was how his obedience was rewarded, with a choke collar. He held his head in his hands and ran them through his hair. If he did this Jann Lee would never forgive him. It wasn't in his nature to forgive. He knew of men in Nanjing who had crossed Jann Lee; several of them suddenly had there illegal business exposed. In his heart of hearts, he would forever be Jann's friend. Jann had taught him how to pickpocket, they had gotten into street scuffles together. They had cheated at cards together. But Sing and Yu's lives were on the line and this was the last job. Qing had told him he only had to do three, his tribute, and he would return his family to him. Blood was thicker than friendship. He took a deep steadying breath as he got ready to do what he was about to do. He took out an emergency ward that he had been given the last time ninjas had shown up. He said some words he didn't understand and the ward began to glow red. Ninja jutsu would be worthless here now. He took one deep breath as he heard a savage knock on the door.

Here we go.

The frantic look on Xiao's face convinced Ryu to teleport to his room without further questioning. Nothing happened. Ryu tried again. Hitomi looked at him like he had lost his mind, why was he just standing there making funny faces? Xiao on the other hand understood what was happening.

"Shit, I'm too late; they have the jutsu wards up. They're as good as dead now." He slumped down in a chair that his prior entrance had taken an arm off of.

Ryu however was not so quick to throw in the towel. He acted swiftly.

"Hitomi, Get out of this hotel and try to get as many people as you can to leave as well. I don't care how you do it, just do it."

He grabbed Xiao by the collar as he ran out of the room. Xiao's backpack bounced behind them.

The door broke down with relative ease, as two impossibly big muscle men crashed into the room, surprising Jann and Hayate. Jann, who was relatively tall, had to tilt his head up to get a good look at them. "What on earth?" he said, before having to jump out of the way.

These boys were not in a talking mood.

The first one took a swing at Jan, who dodged easily and sent him flying into Hong's previously vacated chair. The second barreled right at Hayate who tried to teleport out of the way and was thrown into the wall when the jutsu didn't work. He quickly recovered, however and sent a resounding kick into the man's head. The behemoth was slightly fazed but still managed to shake it off. Hayate kicked the other side of the man's head, swerving to avoid Lei Fang on the bed. Jann and the second muscle head rolled across the room. With Jann having to continuously throw the man off of him into various objects. What they hell were they? They were unstoppable. Then quiet suddenly a dart seemed to bloom from Hayate's leg. A numbness spread through his leg forcing him to the floor as the other man pushed his weigh on to him. Jann Lee noticed the uncharacteristic action, despite the fact that he was working very hard at incapacitating the man he was fighting with. Another dart appeared out of Hayate's spine. Jann looked around, at first not understanding their origin. He followed the path of a third dart and did not quite comprehend what he saw at first. At the end of the path stood Hong, blowgun in hand, busily reloading. The shock of the moment caused him to lose his grip on the other man and he found himself eating plaster as his face slammed into the wall along with a sting as a dart pierced his own skin. Whatever the darts were tipped with was strong stuff. Jann Lee felt his grip on reality slide slightly to the left and then to the right. He shook his head once, trying to clear his range of vision. He managed shake off the big guy and head for Hong, only to have a dart hit his neck. He wasn't sure which way he fell; he just knew it was to the floor. There was a guttural chuckle in the background from one of the muscle men and Jann had the unpleasant experience of being kicked in the ribs. Only the pain itself felt wrong, soft and fluffy. He didn't even know pain could feel fluffy. It was a strange experience for a man who had stayed clean all his life. He had the distinct feeling that more soft pain was on the way, when Hong's muted voice halted it.

"Boss Qing wants to take care of him personally, back off." The voice was sharp, not at all the Hong he remembered. The muscle head made a sarcastic comment but let him lie. "What about the other one?" muscle head two asked, holding Hayate's head in his giant hands.

"Just leave him; Boss wants it to look like a drug overdose." Hong said smoothly.

Jann felt like he was under water, having a very bad dream or both.

The sounds of the twin goliaths dimmed and vanished as they left. Only Hong remained. He got down on his hands and knees and look Jann in the face. He had enough strength in him to muster a groan of distaste and enough control of his muscles to glare. Hong shook his head as he took out a needle and a bottle of nasty looking blue fluid. Jann glared even harder.

"Listen, there isn't much time before someone comes to collect you. I'm putting this antidote into you and your friend. It will take about an hour or so to fully kick in. I have to bring Lei to Qing, Jann.

Jann Lee's Eyes widened in horror as he struggled to get the rest of his body to move. He couldn't understand the betrayal at all.\

Hong understood the look on his face and gave him his answer.

"I have no choice. He took my brother."

He injected the needle into Jann Lee. To him it felt like a point ripping through fabric. The world suddenly felt clearer, even though the antidote hadn't started to work yet.

"Snap out of it and finish this, Jann, before it's too late. Qing's got something big planned, and it's not just for you."Hong whispered as he rose.

The last thing Jann saw when the world of the unconscious took him was Hong lifting away Lei Fang. His hand inched forward, and then darkness.

"How did Qing get Justu wards?" Ryu asked while avoiding people, furniture and the occasional lost pet running from the 10th floor to the 58th floor. Someone had blocked all the service stairways and he was forced to use the regular hallways. This situation was even sticker than before. He was only able to warp to the 10th floor before the wards took effect. How did an everyday street gang have jutsu wards? Hayate had been right about the gang having supernatural connections after all.

"I don't know," Xiao answered, narrowly avoiding a chair.

Ryu, not missing a beat, managed to jump over a tea cart while looking skeptically at him.

"I don't!" he insisted earnestly, "He's had the ability for a long time now, over six years. It passed to him when the old boss Zheng had him take over the Golden Dragon."

Xiao was suddenly halted as his head crashed through a potted plant. He almost preferred the beating Jann or Qing would have given him compared to this super running. Almost.

"How?" Ryu asked again. They were on the 23rd floor now.

Xaio gave him the only answer that he could think of

"His Eye."

_Hong Kong, Six years ago_

_European piano music dinned lightly in Xiao's ears, he had never liked classical music. He had never liked fancy either, and this restaurant was as fancy as it got. He was restless, the suit he wore was scratchy and annoying. He didn't belong here. Qing however seemed to fit right in, from the fork he used to the way he spoke. Only the topic of conversation was crude._

"…_took his arm clean off. You should have seen his face, old man." He looked eagerly at the Elder Zheng, hoping for approval. The Boss was in a giving mood that night, especially with his heir. He laughed at the story Qing had told a thousand times over. His laugh was the cue for everyone else to laugh too and they did. Tonight was Qing's promotion dinner, he could tell as many stories as he wanted. Nothing really important happened at the party, only the usual bowing and groveling and whatnot. It was after the party that was important. The old boss sat, bodyguards absent, with Qing and Xiao. The restaurant was devoid even of a light. Only a ghostly glow from the street lamps outside penetrated the windows, illuminating frost on the glass. The Elder Zheng smoked a cigar the smoke filing the room. The fledgling boss smoked one too, although he wasn't used to it and coughed. Xiao felt like a third wheel, but then again he too was one of the Elder's adopted sons, it would be strange for him to be absent. For awhile the three most notorious gangsters in Hong Kong enjoyed the dark and snow. Then the Elder Zheng spoke and it was if the years were finally catching up to him._

"_Qing, I've been in this business a long time. I've seen a lot of good gangsters come and go. Dirty and honorable, skilled and stupid. And I've come to realize that there are two fundamental truths."_

_Xiao sat quietly, not really bristling at the exclusion. The Elder Boss always had something just for Qing. He sat back, waiting for the bonding moment to pass._

"_The first is that there is no such thing as a good gangster, because there is always someone better. That hotshot who steals everything out from under your nose. It's nothing personal, rules of the game. The second is that lady luck is a fickle girl, she'd soon as chose the enemy as much as she'd choose you, unless…"_

_The light threw a steel glimmer off the old man's eyes making them look red for a moment,_

"_You cheat."_

_He held up a small, perfectly round white orb. It looked strangely like an eyeball. It even had dark splotches where the iris should be. _

"_This is the key to my success," he said, holding the trinket aloft. "It's made me what I am. It's called the snake's eye, I figured you needed a replacement for the one you lost."_

_Qing's real eye had gotten infected shortly after Jann Lee had dysroyed it. The Boss had a Mob doctor visiting from Russia scoop it out._

_Qing looked skeptically at the eye, "I never thought you were one to believe in trinkets old man."_

"_Trust me, it's not just a trinket. Try it, you'll see." The elder tossed it to the new Boss, who took it, with a hidden roll of his eye. Then Xiao noticed, something in Qing's face changed as he held it. He looked down at it with awe. _

_That was the moment when he decided to do the purge._

_It wasn't that he had planned to go back on his word. It was just that live gangsters were better than dead ones, as soon as you showed them who was Boss. Xiao knew for a fact that it was that moment where he really committed to it, and it had something to do with that eye._

_Night descended coldly that next day, it wrapped all who were brave enough to stand in it in an icy shroud. The two men on the street corner were no exception. _

"_Are you sure you want to do this, Qing?" he asked._

"_You're not chickening out on me, are you, Xiao?"_

_It sounded very much like two children with guns that spurted water, not bullets._

"_No, but…" He started, unsure of how to express himself._

"_Don't worry, it'll be fine." He held out the eye to Xiao, " for luck." _

_Xiao looked down at it, up at Qing and back down at the eye again._

"_I never thought you were one to believe in trinkets." His words mirrored Qing's own._

"_Just this once," Qing said, half smiling._

_And he touched the eye._

_What happened at that point was unexplainable. _

_Xiao felt himself change. The rational part of him was roughly shoved aside as something took root in his head.  
_

_He felt stronger, more powerful and more than a little crazy._

_He felt like killing somebody._

Christie sat in deep concentration.She held her ankle slightly aloft in the air as she lowered the needle into her own muscles. She would have told the man Qing had sent to guard her under the pretext of being her assistant, how happy she was that the Chinese had created acupuncture if she hadn't killed him already. His corpse lay in front of the door, two needles buried in his throat, and served as a roadblock to her visitor.

The accented Russian exclamation floated angrily through the door, revealing its owner.

She didn't even glance at him as he entered despite the fact that she issued no invitation. She was busy. Regardless, she watched the refection of his figure in her needles as she worked. Like an expert chess player, she put another needle into play, manipulating he own muscles into the most helpful postion. Her ankle was already feeling better.

"What is it, Bayman?" She asked as she drew another needle from a silk pouch in her lap.

It wasn't what he was there to ask, but it was what came out.

"You're doing acupuncture in the middle of a job?" it was a dumbfounded tone a voice that made Christie smirk. She looked up at him.

"You came here to question me about my hobbies? How odd, I wasn't aware they were any of your business."

She was done. She let her spine filled ankle sit, carefully avoiding pushing any of the needles in further then they needed to go.

"How do you feel about this job?"

"Emotionally?' she teased, his normal frown deepened.

"You know what I mean," he kept his voice carefully flat.

She shrugged, and kept her eyes on him as she removed the first needle, eyebrows raised slightly.

"Why do you ask?"

She was daring him to reveal his motives, he knew. But there was no way he could safely do that without confirming she wouldn't stab him in the back first. It was a tricky game. He wasn't about to give her the upper hand.

"No reason," he lied, he turned to walk out.

"I saw your back up plan, neat little piece of work." She said, giving a feral smile at his turned back. He glanced at her over his shoulder before turning around.

"I was unaware that_my _hobbies were any of your concern." He said, wondering absently where he had made the slip up

"I keep tabs on the people I work with, you might want to do the same." she said smiling.

Half of the needles were out. They laid strewn like a silver mine field all over the carpet. It occured to Bayman that if she was going to kill him, she could just do it there. She had enough ammo.

"Luckily for you", she said, holding the most recently removed needle in the air. "You and I seem to share the same feelings about this job. I have a few plans of my own. Interested?"

He gave one swift gruff nod.

She tossed the needle in to a nearby chair,

"Take a seat"

A look passed between them, his wary and skeptical, hers sharp and playful. Neither look held trust.

There was only one thing they both knew for sure.

The plan called for two people.

Lei shook her head once, then again, in the pysical act of clearing ones thoughts. The room was dark and her head was hazy.

She reached out in her mind, struggling to put together her memory. She remembered Jann Lee, the Fight, the Kiss…

Her mind lingered on that for a moment.

Then she remembered Hayate giving her some strange green liquid and then…. Hong?

But that was impossible, wasn't it?

She tried to move her arms and found that cold metal incircled her wrists.

Handcuffs?

She paused to take in her surroundings. She was handcuffed to a rather expensive looking bed. Was she still in the hotel? There was carpet on the floor and an empty chair in the corner. The darkness surrounding the chair moved.

The blob moved and a hand pounded on the only entrance to the room.The door swung open and Light poured in, giving the man entering an evil glow. She squinted trying to see his face in the light. Despite the long period of time between their last meeting when he spoke she knew him instantly.

"It's been a long time, Lei Fang." Qing said casually, as though his presence was a welcome one.

"Qing!" She exclaimed, her eyes grew wide.

He enjoyed her fear. Or what he thought was fear.

"Happy anniversary"


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: I'm Back! Sorry this Chapter took as long as it did, my courses and the massive amounts of final work attached to them all hit me at once, I barely had any time to write. My break is coming up soon and there are some delightfully long trips that will give me hours to write the finishing chapters of The Dragon and The Phoenix. I hope.

To everybody who reviewed: Thank you! I'm glad you like the direction of the story so far. Sit tight, quandary, you'll get your closure."

As always enjoy! and remember, reviews are loved!

* * *

"What's all this now?" Tina barged into Hitomi's room, dragging Zack by his leg behind her as he protested. The company present, Hitomi, Kokoro, Eliot and even Gen Fu all looked at her with the same semi shocked, semi resigned look that seemed exclusively reserved for when she had done something stupid.

"What?" She protested, "You said it was life or death and he wouldn't get up!"

"But why did you have to drag him out naked?" Eliot asked. Kokoro had buried her face in his shoulder to prevent seeing anything inappropriate. Eliot wanted to do the same thing. Nobody needed to see that.

"What?" She turned and looked at him only to shield her own eyes in pain. "Put some clothes on!"

Zack, who had luckily been entangled with a sheet when he was assaulted and dragged from peaceful slumber into the harsh reality of Hitomi's bedroom, gathered said sheet to him and covered himself. He honestly wasn't too happy with the situation himself.

"I would if you hadn't dragged two floors from my closet, woman!"

"You should have got up when I told you to!" she shouted at him.

"You could have tried a little harder to wake me up!" he half shouted, half purred, as if he wasn't quite sure he should be flirting with her right now, given the serious looks on everyone's faces, but couldn't quite help himself.

"Eliot? Your room's on this floor, right? Lend Zack some clothes, please! This is important!" Hitomi asked.

Eliot winced, and motioned for the sheet covered Zack to follow him. They returned a few minutes later. Zack thoroughly pleased in one of Elliot's long vests and baggy pants sets. He shifted trying to get used to the material.

"How do you fight in this?" He asked, puzzled.

"Please, pay attention!" Hitomi barked, losing her temper. "We have to get everybody out of the hotel right now!"

"why didn't you just ask us to meet outside if we needed to leave?" Zack asked. Hitomi opened her mouth to respond, but Gen fu interrupted.

"I believe she means everyone in the building, Zack," the old master said. "Would you care to explain why?"

"There's no time!" she shouted, curbing herself when she realized who she was talking to.

'How would you get everybody in a building this large out at once?" Kokoro asked, biting her lip.

The company was silent in thought for a moment. Tina stared at them all, wondering how it wasn't obvious to them what to do.

"Didn't any of you go to public school?" she asked incredulously as she walked out of the room and pulled the fire alarm on the wall.

When Ryu reached the room he knew he was too late. Xiao's explanation of Qing's eye matched the description of the missing ninja artifact know as the Devil's eye. He only assumed that its Chinese owners had renamed it for their own purposes.

Or perhaps the eye had renamed its self, if the rumors were true…

Lei Fang lay looking at him from over her own legs as the emotions ran through her, a tangled mess. She tried to sit up as her body, from years of practice, tried to work her present position into a fighting stance. The metal on her wrists would not cooperate and out of all her emotions, annoyance seemed to seep up and bubble through everything else. She was absolutely tired of this. It was the same fight that had started in an alley when they were all children, for god's sake! Too much had already had been lost because of it. too many lives and too many possibilities, it needed to end before anybody else got hurt.

And since Jann Lee hadn't seen fit to do so, she would.

Qing circled her like a cobra before a mouse it's about to eat. He hadn't turned the light on and only shafts of light winked through the curtains, causing his fake eye to glimmer slightly.

"It's been a long time" he said absent mindedly as he looked her over. He was reconsidering letting the assassins kill her after all. They were mostly there to take the blame, and clean up the few loose ends he had left. But then again, they would get suspicious and he supposed Bayman just might survive it all and out one of his many secrets that the man knew about. It was the price he supposed for having a history of working with someone, sooner or later they encounter your dirty laundry.

He came in closer and Lei Fang struggled against the handcuffs, testing the heft and weight of the metal, and waiting for her chance to strike.

Hayate had come to slowly, and was only thickly able to tell them what had transpired.

He asked coughing. Whatever was in those darts had done a number on him, Ryu noticed. The ninja herbal tonics were working much slower then they should have. They were dealing with some sort of poison master, he gathered.

"Where's Jann Lee? He was hit too." He asked coughing as Xaio helped him up

Ryu lifted his eyebrows quizzically, scanning less easier to see corners of the room.

Jann Lee was nowhere to be found

Just then the fire alarm went off.

Qing cursed loudly and made a few gestures to men outside the room. Someone was trying to spoil his fun and he hadn't even started the party yet.

He ignored the terse noise that echoed through Lei Fang's ears. She had trained for years and it was still hard to focus with that blasted thing booming in her ear. Qing however paid it no mind and continued to talk to her, edging ever closer to the bed and her exposed legs.

"It's quite cute, really. You following around Jann Lee all these years, like a puppy. I suppose he has to have someone to do on the side, eh?"

He sat down on the bed, teasing his fingers up the bed covers, she shifted away from him, masking the strategic movement with a look of disgust.

"You never did get it, Qing. He's not like that. He doesn't see me like that." She spat, refusing at such a dangerous time to remember the kiss, and all the hidden mystery it held. Qing laughed.

"It's you who doesn't know him," catching her eyes with him, "I suppose you think that he became a good boy after going to Nanjing, hm? And that he's been a good boy for the past six years? You think I would waste my time hunting him down like the dog he is simply over an old grudge over this? I assure you, I owe him for that."

He gestured at his eye and when she wouldn't look, he grabbed her chin and tilted it up so she was forced to look at his face.

Lei Fang's eyes widened as the Eye, a simple stone in his head began to turn wildly spinning like a runaway ball and glowing red.

She forgot herself in the pure horror of the moment, thrown by the still pounding sound of the alarm, which had somehow seem to get louder, competing with the runaway beating of her heart and the malicious smile the eye seemed to illuminate. It was this moment the he struck. The unintentional gasp that escaped due to the impact of skin on skin snapped her back to reality as his hand crawled hungry up her leg.

She had missed her moment.

Qing was like a cockroach; hands and legs and feelers suddenly trying to gain access to things they had no business with. He clutched at her hips as she struggled with him, trying to focus her energies. In the end it was not her energies that saved her. It was the blatant anger of what this man was attempting to do. It gave the petite young woman the strength to break the headboard and bring both her fists smashing down on what she hoped was the base of his neck, the part of the body that connected brain stem to spine. The part that if struck would bring instant death. However, her calculations had been off ever so slightly as she rolled off the bed to the floor, instantly assuming her fighting stance, slightly modified for her still cuffed hands. Her blow had landed on his back, but despite not killing him, it had hurt him. He let out of string of curses as he lunged for her, but he had lost his advantage, Using her hands as though they were one she summoned her ki from her stomach and thrust outward to meet his blow. It deterred him only for a moment as he lunged at her again and again, each time she managed to block him he seemed to grow more wild. She wasn't sure why, but it was as thought the red tint from his eye had seemed into his skin. She backed away slightly, trying to avoid a tangle of curtains at the far end of the heavily ornate room and being boxed in.

Elsewhere, Bayman hauled Jann Lee over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The Fighter continued to breathe evenly and tried to stay as limp as possible. He had fought Bayman before and knew the man's senses were almost extrasensory. One tense muscle, one wrong move and He would be suspicious. For now, he needed Bayman to take him to Lei Fang.

On the fire escape on the 25th a platoon of young men awaited orders. They didn't look like your average solider, but then gang soldiers were really military men to begin with. The radio crackled lightly

"Li, you there?" a rough voice asked

Li grunted

"Commence with the plan now, some wise guy pulled the fire alarm. If we still want to frame Jann Lee for this, we have to move before there aren't any hostages left. I already given orders to the others"

"Roger" Li agreed, He signaled to his men and the move swiftly down wards. Their movement was given a whole other meaning when a purple blur appeared out of thin air.

Most of the men were hurled off the fire escape 24 stories down in a barrage of kicks punches and thrusts. Li was impressed. He had never seen anyone move so quickly. He continued to be impressed when the blur and him were the only ones left and it – she, he discovered when she stopped moving, held him pressed against the wall, dagger at his throat.

"Who are you?" he managed to choke out to the small figure. Her hair was shielding her eyes.

"What did he mean by frame Jann Lee?" she asked; ignoring his question.

"I don't squeal" he answered roughly.

Despite his respect for her capabilities, he wasn't about to answer that one. He knew better. After all, he was one of Qing's personal bodyguards. He had campaigned with the crime lord through every gang scuffle he had ever been in, both in China and out. He had been threatened with death by those far more imposing than the simply clad woman restraining him. There was no way he was about to talk, or so he thought. Qing's head body guard was a very superstitious man. Never broke mirrors, spilled salt or stepped on side walk cracks. His mother had always told him that eyes were a window to the soul, and when she looked up at him with a twisted smile visible in her blood red eyes, he felt a shiver go down his spine that was far more terrible than any crime Lords glare.

"You want to reconsider, I have ways of making you talk" she shifted the knife blade suddenly, nearly nicking the skin. He took a deep breath, stared at his own reflection in that blood red abyss and began at the beginning.

An old woman, who hadn't been able to find her glasses before Tina's impromptu fire drill clutched at Hitomi's arm. Gen fu and Eliot were leading out groups of tourists and Tina and Zack were zealously cleaning out the upper floors. Luckily for them, Hitomi supposed, the Hotel was mostly filled with contestants for the tournament and guests for a celebrity wedding that had been hushed up. Somehow the sprinkler system had been triggered, convincing even those who were sure there was no fire to escape to the outdoors. The lobby began to fill with confused people as Kokoro and the rest of the Hotel staff tired to convince them to go outside. Everything was going to plan, Hitomi thought, mental noting that one of Tina's plans had worked for once, even if she had ended up drenched. She decided that when this was all over she would treat her friend to dinner and make up for that fish incident. They had finally reached the door and Hitomi went courteously hold it for the old lady, but it wouldn't budge. She pulled the handle gently at first and then with all of he strength, which would have dislodged any normal door from its hinges, but still nothing happened. In an unexpected reversal, the steel security gate, closed like an iron curtain, trapping the lobby's inhabitants inside. To make matters more alarming, from out of nowhere, an army of young Chinese men seemed to appear guns in hand. True to the classic hostage situation, they demanded that everyone put there hands up. Hitomi's eyes widened in surprise.

They were trapped like rats.

The subtle shift of the situation in the Lobby revealed it's self to Ryu when himself and Xaio had to fend off two armed guards. Careful surveillance of the area showed that there was an impressive number of guards in the corridor leading to the first suite area, where Qing was located and he guessed Lei Fang was being held, possibly with Jann Lee.

Ryu paused at that thought. It was unlike Jann Lee to get himself captured, but then again it was unlike Hayate to get himself knocked out. For the time being he had to assume Jann Lee was out of commission. He was getting ready to take out the first set of guards when Xaio placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It may be a long-shot, but I have an idea."

Bayman continued down the long service hallway, completely aware that Jann Lee was less than unconscious. He hadn't exactly planned on Hong's insubordination, slipping Jann Lee an antidote the way he had, but it worked into his scheme perfectly. Christina had done some checking up into what Qing had been up to. He knew the whole plan, down to every last detail. He even read the pre written articles meant to spam the Japanese and Chinese media. His photographic memory, so prized in his business of espionage and murder, had come through for him again. As he walked, he mused on the situation. He hadn't changed his plans when he discovered that his employer had not made him the fall guy. It had turned out that the few secrets of Qing's that he knew prevented him from turning against Bayman, although Christina, he chuckled to himself would have come out for worse for wear. He wondered for a brief moment why he didn't just do the logical thing, inform Qing of Christina's little foray in to his personal Laptop, the extraction of his files and the secret call to certain people who had been looking for just this kind of dirt to finish him. He could finish the faker here right now by snapping his neck. Qing would be indebted to him for it, but he didn't feel inclined to do so. He had only half of his paycheck, but somehow he was okay with that. It occurred to him that he didn't like Qing at all. That he reminded him of a certain former employer who had tried to frame him and them have him killed. Bayman smiled to himself, as he turned off into the red carpeted, guest hallway of the Hotel, scaring one of Qing's subordinate, who had never seen anyone smile quite so evilly before. Even if he was honest on this job, sooner or later, like Donovan, Qing would betray him. He was simply cutting off the head before the snake could strike. The real genius of the plan is that no one would suspect him to aid the so called good guys; not even the good guys themselves. Vengeance against Qing would be blamed on Jann Lee. He and Christina would just set up the proper things needed so that Qing wouldn't be able to get up from this one. He shifted Jann Lee weight a lit and felt a slight tensing in the body. Luckily the guards hadn't recognized it. He entered the Suite, knowing that this was where Jann Lee would probably ambush him.

Down in the in the Lobby, gun barrels gleamed at fighters and civilians alike. The crew, deciding to play along for the moment to avoid anyone who couldn't defend themselves getting hurt allowed themselves to be herded complacently into the ballroom. The Bride of the hushed up celebrity wedding sat sobbing on the floor, her groom knocked unconscious next to her. When everyone remaining in the Hotel, which was a surprisingly small amount of people; Tina's fire alarm had really done the trick, was in the Room, a grizzled looking old timer stepped forward, Machine Gun at the ready.

"Listen up, you Pansies!" he snarled, "When the cops get here to," he snickered, "'save you' this is what you are going to tell them. You were kidnapped by the Jann Lee Golden Dragons syndicate, and held a gunpoint. Got that pretty?" he smacked the butt of his gun under the sobbing woman's chin, forcing her head up.

"_What?"_ Hitomi thought as her eyes widened in horror. _"Jann Lee… They're setting him up!?"_

Although Tina's idea earlier had shown that there was some brains mixed in with her brawn, the amount of brains was certainly in question when she brazenly questioned the man, ignoring his deadly instrument.

"Why in the name of my Aunt Betsy would we do that?" her hands were on her hips and she glared menacingly at the man without a trace of fear.

The man glared back with a grin, as if he had been begging for someone to ask that question.

"To put it real simple, sweetheart" he drawled as the men next to him sprang into action, abducting the Bride's groom and half of the assembled wedding party while some of them sat in with the hostages. Kokoro and Eliot dared glances at Hitomi and Gen Fu as they were pushed into the group that was now being herded to a room off to the side of the ballroom. Hitomi shook her head slightly; it wasn't time for action just yet.

"You don't tell them that and you can kiss every single one of them good bye. You got that" he asked the bride. "You're going out first"

The rest of the Hostages were pushed to the back of the ballroom, where the doorway second group was just barely visible. The man in charge was about to say something further, when his subordinate handed him a phone.

"Oh look, it's time for the fun to start"

Bayman coughed as blood spurted from his mouth. It seemed like the kid was angry. He let out a bloody chuckle. Jann Lee was interesting when he was angry, a little wilder than the DOA. He had always thought the boy was to wound up anyway, far too controlled. That control had to be loosened for the plan to work. Bayman knew what his opponents thought of him. A muscle guy, talented at killing and nothing else. It paid to have the reputation, nobody would every think the methodical killer would know something about Psychology. He circled his jumpy opponent and began to talk through the blood.

"He's going to kill her, you know," he said bluntly, suddenly attempting to tackle his opponent and took a punch to the Jaw for his pains. Bayman shook his head to clear his vision and continued on.

"He told me about your interesting… history. He's obsessed, probably killing her right now, there are wonderful things a knife could do to such soft flesh"

Three more punches to the jaw, harder this time. Bayman knew his words were getting there, hitting home under the man's emotional barrier and Jann Lee didn't even know it.

Bayman smiled as he added Christie's suggested taunt, knowing that it might just be enough to push him far enough.

"Better yet, a beautiful woman, Qing is probably having his way with her right now. Unconscious, unable to defend herself who wouldn't…

His words disappeared in a flurry of kicks and punches, and he almost smiled as he hit the floor feigning unconsciousness and hope it was enough. Jann Lee hurried passed him, the doors to Qing's suite only a hallway away, and Lei Fang was behind them.

Laying there, waiting for Christina, he wondered what exactly it took to get a man like Jann Lee into a killing mood.

Police Capt. Hiroyuki Yoshida was having a bad day. It was one of those days that made him regret ever joining the Tokyo police force. First it was that sextuple homicide last month that he had almost lost his job over, and now this. One of the most prominent hotels in Tokyo was being held hostage by Chinese terrorists who didn't even have demands! It was ridiculous! They had released one hostage, a bride who turned out to be the famous Japanese idol Aya Fukuda, who practically screamed at them over and over again that they were the Jann Lee syndicate from China and refused to say anything else.

He had the Boys do some digging and found some interesting background on the man who had apparently done all sort of dirty dealing all over China, particularly Hong Kong and Nanjing. But Capt. Yoshida still didn't understand just why this Jann Lee character would want a hotel and not ask ransom for it. He rubbed his balding head tiredly as he waited for information from the second person they send out, a young Chinese man who claimed he was Ms. Fukuda's bodyguard.

Suddenly, there was a ruckus as a man elbowed his way into the trailer, trying to get past the street cop.

"Sir, you can't speak to Capt. Yoshida right now…" the officer said, despite the fact the the only thing between the two of them now was his arm.

The man spoke anyway.

"I'm Agent Song, Interpol, Nanjing branch." The man, the tanned, graying, and surprisingly fit 50 year old man said. "I'm here about your Jann Lee problem."

Yoshida waved away the officer, who went defeated outside.

"There really isn't much to be done here Agent, we are waiting on there demands, I have all the info I need on this Jann Lee and as soon as the extraction teams get here we will get our man. You're welcome to watch."

Bad day or not, he still wasn't letting Interpol get this collar.

"You see, Captain, you do have a problem."

Song took out a cigarette from his breast pocket, lit it and delicately blew the smoke into the already annoyed Captain's face.

"Because the man in there, that's not Jann Lee. It's someone with a much bloodier track record, if you don't handle this situation exactly as I tell you to this could become a real blood bath."

Yoshida, who decided quite firmly that he Didn't like this Song from Interpol at all. His eyes narrowed from both anger and the smoke.

"Just how would you know that, Mr. Song?"

"Because," He said, taking another puff, "He's one of mine"

* * *

_Nanjing, 5 years ago_

_He hit the punching bag a few more time before stopping. The bag wasn't right, it was too light. He mentally cursed before deciding to call it a day. He had work in an hour and he was bouncing the VIP section. He was sure to see some action. He hit the showers, changed and came out. His eyes flicked sidelong for a second and sure enough the man was still there. Jann had been acutely aware of the man watching him for a few hours now. He wasn't surprised when the man got up and followed him for at least a few blocks. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the man, who wasn't fazed by the abrupt movement that brought them with inches of each other. On the contrary, he cracked a smile._

"_Smart boy, figured you catch on sooner or later." He said with almost a chuckle._

_Jann Lee was not amused._

"_What do you want?" he asked evenly. He was slightly annoyed by this man and had to get ready for work._

"_To ask a question" the man said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up._

"_Ask it then" Jann Lee resumed his previous course, and the man could barely keep up._

"_Why do you do it? The warehouses by the docks, the Xian Yi trading company building, the escort smuggling ring in San Fransisco? We know it was you who committed the arson on the first two and attacked the third, Jann the Dragon. I just want to know what you have against Qing xi Zheng?"_

_He stopped then, only turning his head to examine the man behind him._

"_Who wants to know?"_

_Agent Song, Interpol, we've been watching you chase him around the world with some interest. Care to share any juicy tidbits with us?_

"_Nothing you could prove."_

"_Care to help us on a fact gathering mission then? I know you've already infiltrated his latest ring."_

"_Why should I help you?" Jan asked, he wasn't about to become another man's lackey not again._

"_Otherwise, I'll have to arrest you on that San Francisco case," Song said seriously, took a good look at Jann and added. "I know about your history with that gang in Hong Kong, the one Qing retired. If you're out for vengeance help us bring him to justice. Help us to help yourself. You're no good to anyone in Prison, not even yourself._

"_Fine" he said calmly. Song was almost thrown, he liked making people lose their cool, knowing what buttons to press made people easier to manipulate. But Jann Lee didn't bat an eyelash at being man handled._

"_My card," Song handed him the flimsy square, turned around and walked away._

* * *

"You want me to do what to my witness?" Yoshida asked, almost losing his temper.

"Do it," Song said, "The sooner you crack the fake, the sooner you find out what's going on. Or do I have to assert my authority.

Yoshida turned a interesting shade of red, before fling open the door and shouting at the officer.

"Bring me, Ms. Fukuda's Bodyguard!"


	9. Chapter 9

Authors Note: This is going to be the last update for awhile, as I will not have access to a computer for about a month in the worst case scenario, but as I said before I intend to finish this story, so sit tight. )

* * *

The Dragon and the Phoenix: Chapter 9

In the time of the old boss Zheng, there had been more discipline among the ranks. Each man had not been in the ranks to get his fill of death and loot, but to serve a purpose to an organization that they believed in so much so that the sacrifice of 10 men didn't faze anyone because it was necessary to the whole. Qing however had been unable to coordinate that same sort of organized malice with intent in his people. The White Dragons had become full of people who stole and killed for themselves. The Boss was only good for the money he paid them and the fear he instilled the outside world. This was maybe why the guards to the suite floor elevator were playing cards instead of listening to their radios and didn't know about 'intruders' when the two men showed up.

"What's this? Playing cards? How disgustingly juvenile. Don't you realize there are intruders in the building? Qing will hear about your insubordination!" An icicle sharp voice warned.

Xiao's voice almost made Ryu's skin crawl. He had transformed into someone totally different than five minutes ago. With a tone like that, it was easy to believe that he was second in command of China's most ruthless gang.

"Mr. Zheng!' the two men said in unison and gulped together as they straightened up.

"Sir!" they both saluted and the first stammered out. "I-is the b-boss expecting you, sir? We – I mean, He, thought you were in China handling the day to day affairs? D-did something go wrong."

" No, I made the five hour flight to tell him everything is peachy and make chit chat with the guards" he snapped. "Now let us through!"

Xiao had a way with words. The guards were so scared shitless that they didn't notice that he wore the same suit as they did, the mandatory uniform for the lower guards. Nor did they notice that there was a small bloodstain on the sleeve of the suit worn by the new guard. Quaking in their expensive Pravda shoes they let Xiao and Ryu up the elevator with no trouble at all.

Ayane cursed as she took down (threw down was more appropriate) another group of gangsters. There seemed to be no end to them; and she began to question the true motives behind this. Ryu-sama had informed her of the attempted hotel take over and told her to take out the support groups. The guard, before she had dislocated his knees and knocked him unconscious, had told her that this was all to get back at the boss's nemesis, Jann Lee. Ayane had seen people go great lengths to destroy their archrivals before. If the clan had not bestowed it's forgiveness on Kasumi, she might have said the same about herself. She launched gracefully and soundlessly off the fire escape of the 48th floor. After her little escapade on the 25th floor more and more of Qing's dime a dozen soldiers dropped in on her until she had headed all the way upstairs and took care of the cute little watch station they had there. She had also been able to survey the rest of his crew through the surveillance they had set up. There had to have been over 200 hundred men on the fire escapes alone, and a fair amount in the ballroom too, although that wasn't her problem. Why on earth did Qing need so many men for one guy? There had to be something else going here. She caught herself with her ninja wire and smashed through the windows on the 19th floor, her momentum through her out the other side and forced 4 more thugs to their untimely deaths. The wheels in her head turned faster and faster her mind wasn't really on whom she was fighting as she threw everything she knew about the current mission into the mix. The artifact, the devil's eye, what was it that made it so important? It was the true master of the game they were all pieces in. she tossed another man over the fire escape. 154, she mouthed absentmindedly. She remembered something about it when she was being tutored by Genra as a child. It had been on his world's most dangerous items list. He used to tell her stories of them when she was a child before bedtime. It had something to do with a rouge ninja and the undead. He tossed another man off the fire escape as she willed the memory back into existence.

* * *

"_Bedtime, Ayane!" The little purple haired girl was swatting fireflies gleefully with her daggers, aiming for the pinpricks of life with deadly accuracy, a miniature massacre around her feet. Ever like a child, the moment of cruelty ceased when it was no longer entertaining and she ran inside obediently at her adopted father's call, eager for tonight's bedtime story. She slipped on her pajamas and obediently bounced into her cot._

"_Tell me a story! Please?" She begged, eyes sparkling like colored sugar. Even a hardened ninja like Genra had problems saying no to that._

"_All right, All right, where did we leave off last time?" He said, grinning at her enthusiasm. _

"_You were telling me about the Devil's Toys!" she squeaked. She was not at all ready to go to bed, but always calmed down after a story._

"_They aren't toys, Ayane." Genra stroked his beard and chuckled "The Devil's Playthings aren't really play things at all. He dimmed the fire as he began the story. _

"_Long ago, before the times of cities and technology there lived a great daimyo named Ryukyu. He was a great conqueror and commanded his armies like we would command pieces when we play go, gobbling up prefectures before they even knew they were taken. Now, the pride of Ryukyu's forces was his ninjas. They helped him win campaigns without losing a single solider. Out of all his ninja he had two whom he trusted the most. The first, Satoshi, was his own half brother; trained from birth in the ninja arts to better serve his family. The second was a unique case among ninja, whether or not the gods blessed her or cursed her when she was younger was debated. She was a captive from China, a girl who fought for her life and lived when all those around her had died. The ninja took note of this and brought her back to Japan for her strength and trained her to be ninja. Her original name is unknown, but the ninjas called her Akiko, the red child. She was legendary among ninja for her skill and prowess despite not being born to it. Despite her stature, Akiko secretly hated the Daimyo. She hated him for taking her from her land, destroying her home and using her."_

_Genra hesitated with a frown. He had forgotten exactly how graphic the folktale _

"_The Devil's Bride" was. The lord in the story had used his favorite kunoichi's body as well as her skills. He didn't think the 6 year old needed to know that detail right now._

"_For years, she served him, waiting for her chance to avenge her people. Time passed, months to into years, and her chance never came. She grew more and more impatient, chaffing at the bit as he devoured even more countries. Then one day as she was returning from a mission, a strange man appeared from the river."_

_The river ran red with the blood of those she had freshly slaughtered, Genra remembered, but Ayane didn't need to know that either._

"_He said to her, 'Akiko, you will never have the power to vanquish the daimyo on your own.' She flew into a rage and stabbed him clean through with her katana; but the man lived, He stood there calmly with her katana resting comfortably between his ribs and offered her a deal.' I will give you the power to destroy him; if you become my bride'. She knew by now that he was the King of the Oni, or as some call him now, the Devil but she didn't care. Her hatred of the daimyo was so strong that she agreed without hesitation. In return, he gave her his legions of ninja who never died and never tired. With Oni Ninja behind her, she set to overthrow the daimyo, setting all he had touched in flames. His kingdom was destroyed and she went to his capital to end the fallen daimyo's life. Ryukyu begged her to stop. He said that he would withdraw his troops in her homeland, attempted to bribe her with any and all of earth's pleasures he could give her, but by now Akiko was an Oni herself, driven only by her lust of wanting him dead. The lord did not know what to do and turned to his younger brother, who was also priest. Satoshi had once loved Akiko and he too begged her to end her campaign. When he confronted her in battle, he saw the deal she had made and attempted to purify the hatred in her soul. Akiko did not want to be cleansed and fought the purification. In the end, Satoshi was forced to use a justu that immobilized her and trapped her body in red marble. As her body hardened to stone and she felt the urgent tug of her master on her soul, she uttered this curse._

"_Let my sword remember battle and all who touch it be drawn to it."_

"_Let my diadem be filled with cunning plots and vicious schemes and all who wear it fall prey to them"_

"_Let my pendant to his service be a stone around the neck of all who wear it._

_Lastly, she spoke of her remaining eye; she had lost her right one in her fight with Satoshi._

_Let all who touch my last orb know my strength, receive my malice and my will to conquer. Let them destroy everything that is and everything that will be. Let my eye only see battle and blood, and bring this place to my kingdom."_

_Her body then solidified to marble, but the items of which she spoke, her sword, her diadem, her pendant and her own eye did not change. They fell on the ground, untouched by Satoshi's jutsu. Four of Satoshi's most trusted men were sent to dispose of the items. The first upon touching the sword went mad and killed his own priest warriors before taking his own life. The second was imprisoned for life after plotting to kill Satoshi himself. The third was found at the bottom of a river, strangely as heavy as a stone. The fourth was never scene again. All four items remembered the words of their mistress and wherever they appear in ninja history there is suffering._

_Ayane's eyes were as big as saucers. Maybe this was too scary for a bed time story he thought._

"_Don't fret, my dear." He said, pulling the covers up to her chin. The sword was destroyed a long time ago as was diadem and pendant. Perhaps their destruction will be our next bed time story, hm?" He went to put the candle out._

"_Genra?" she whispered, "What about the eye?"_

"_The eye has not been heard of since the fourth disciple of Satoshi took it away. A few ninja actually doubt its existence."_

_Despite the reassurance, Ayane couldn't sleep that night at all._

* * *

Ayane took down another man as she grappled with the story's meaning. If Qing had the eye, then the eye was in control. The eye wanted the destruction of Japan. How could it possibly arrange the destruction of Japan in a hotel?

Just what the hell was going on here?

It was strange how dark the trailer seemed even in the light of day. Perhaps it was simply the intensity of the light Song was shining on his suspect. Captain Yoshida wasn't sure. He didn't understand this man at all. Following his orders, he arrested the captive in the middle of the street, while he was having a counseling session with the psychologist no less and now Song was bending over backwards apologizing about the mistake. Sure he was semi interrogating the man, but Yoshida didn't like being made to look like a fool.

"But you were definitely inside that building? Song asked again, looking like an idiot.

The man was losing all patience with the Interpol agent.

"Yes, I was, goddamnn it! I came out of the building with Ms. Fukuda! How many fucking times do you want me to tell you that?"

Song grinned slightly, and lit a cigarette. He snuffed the one that had been in his mouth prior to that out on the table in front of the man.

"Could you just tell us your name again for the record?"

"Yoshiyuki Sato, got it this time?" He ground out, "now can I-"

"Interesting name for a Chinese man" Song commented.

"My parents immigrated and chaged our names when I was younger, it's not that uncommon here, is it?" His voice had changed from angry to slightly wary, as if he suspected what Song was driving at.

"Indeed, people do that. But in your case I think not. We know who you are, Mr. Li Chungfeng. We know that you are wanted in Hong Kong, Nanjing and Guangzhou on racketeering, assault and grand larceny. We also know that you were last seen in the presence of three men Interpol finds very interesting. Xin yi Rongji, the famed "stick 'em up" hostage taker, Qing zi Zheng, the White Dragons Mob boss, and a noted assassin who goes by the name Bayman. By confirming for me that you were in this hotel, I think it is safe to assume, since your record lists you as a mob underling, that Zheng and Rongji are your bosses and currently in that building. If you give us information, we will be lenient. As you can see, it's really not necessary for me to be nice. We already know what's going on here."

Captain Yoshida had whiplash. Things were going too fast. The bodyguard revealed as a thug was having trouble believing how swiftly he'd been caught, but he still tried to steer them along the course Qing had laid out for his men.

"I work for a guy named Jann Lee. He runs the whole-"his words were cut of abruptly as he was pinned against the tin wall of the trailer, the building rocking slightly because of the force.

"Don't you dare try to put one over on me, you idiot," he shook the man hard. "Jann Lee is one of my men, if you don't sing old Song the tune he wants to here, they I will make sure they reopen your wife's stalled murder case in Thailand. Do you know what they do to Chinese who kill Thai women in a Bangkok Prison?" The thug's eyes widened a fraction of an inch and Song through him in the chair. "Start talking, the truth this time, you can start by telling us the situation in there."

Dumbly, the man spluttered out the situation in the ballroom.

"Captain, you might want to have some of your detectives' question Mr. Chungfeng again. I believe this time he will be more cooperative." Song reached for another cigarette, and shook his carton upside down when he couldn't find one, "Oh, and have them bring me another box of cigarettes, I'm all out."

On that note, Song left the trailer.

His men went inside to deal with the bodyguard imposter and another set tried to debrief the hysterical Ms. Fukuda again, Yoshida himself found the Interpol agent, casually smoking, on the other side of the trailer.

"How did you do that?" He asked gruffly. "How could you have possibly had all that information on a man sent out at random with the hostage? You'd have to know who he was before he even came out of the building."

Song just took another puff on his cigarette.

"I have my sources."

"Little Lei Fang, nowhere to run this time; nobody to die for you like Lao zhi, that idiot. This time it's all you.

Forever indignant, her spine straightened at the intended insult. She stood before him as a fighter, crouched in her stance. She belonged to no one, and she wasn't going to die here.

But he wasn't done with the verbal abuse.

"The most hilarious thing," Qing chuckled as a whispery red light trickled down his muscles as he circled her "Is that you don't even know him anymore, do you? The man has spent more time organizing gangs to go against me in Nanjing, than he has spent with you in the past six years, hasn't he? He's been involved in more heists and drug foul ups just to call attention to me, than he has been in your pathetic tournaments. In fact, if we were to have a test right now to see which one of us knows him better, who'd you think would win, Lei Fang?"

She said nothing; just waited. She was itching for the moment when she could hit him so hard he'd choke on his own tongue.

But his words burned in her ears.

_CRACK!_

The door on the right was suddenly, violently destroyed and two men burst into the room.

Xiao zi Zheng shook his head, once, twice, trying to fix his vision. Surely they hadn't hit the door hard enough to make him hallucinate. The man he saw before him resembled Qing Zi Zheng in only a few aspects. Which was fortunate for him, otherwise he would have sworn that in front of him stood a red glowing Japanese oni, complete with horns sticking out between tufts of Qing's expensively greased hair. The look on his face was acidly menacing as he turned toward the two men at the door with murderous intent. Ryu Hayabusa however did not seem the least bit surprised.

"The transformation, it's started." He said matter of factly, sensibly sizing up the man. He noticed the destruction in the room and Lei Fang's at the ready stance, if somewhat confused by the handcuffs.

"Qing?" Xiao asked disbelievingly.

"Xiao, so you were the traitor." He turned his back on Lei fang as he looked at his gang brother, mildly surprised. "I never would have suspected."

"Qing, what the fuck has happened to you, this wasn't what we joined the white snakes to do. What the hell is all this?"

Lei Fang moved cautiously behind her enemy's back while he was distracted and swiftly kicked out towards his kneecap, forcing him down. He roared and for a moment he certainly sounded like an oni. She grabbed him by the neck and attempted to throw him across the room. But he stopped her mid-catch and instead threw her. She slammed into the marble wall across the room with a sickening crack.

"So they'll share my pain, they all must suffer as I have!" Qing shouted in a not quite human voice. Lei Fang rose shakily to her feet as blood spurted out of her mouth.

"He's insane," Xiao said unsteadily.

Ryu didn't flinch.

"Akiko, don't you think it's time you ended this?"

"Never. Suffer as I have suffered!" A female voice reverberated off the walls of the room.

Qing charged at Ryu and he leapt out of the way, avoiding the swing of the man's now massive arm. While Ryu kept Qing busy, Xiao hurried over to assist Lei Fang.

"Don't touch me!" slapping away his outstretched hand. She glared at him, the full force of her hatred for the man that had murdered her best friend radiating from her eyes.

Xiao didn't have time for this. He grabbed her by the waist, delicately at first and then roughly when she fought him.

"If you stay here right now, you'll die." He snapped at her, but his tone was almost pleading.

"I don't think Lao zhi would forgive me for that any more than he'd forgive you for allowing yourself to die because I was the only person who could help you."

She glared at him even more fiercely, but allowed him to help her stand, pushing along the wall toward the open left entryway. Luckily for them, the Qing-Creature was more concerned with squashing Ryu than with killing them at the moment and they jumped out the door unhindered. She shook him off haughtily as soon she was able to right herself. She'd been in enough Dead or Alive tourneys for her body to recover quickly enough after a harsh blow. She began to move, and doubled over coughing. Xiao bent over her to see if she was alright and that was exactly how he found them.

Jann Lee

She heard the roar before she saw him. Xiao was hurled halfway down the hallway as he positioned himself in front of her, bracing for a return attack.

As he stood there his face portraying a calm she couldn't possibly understand, Lei Fang wasn't sure if she want to kiss him or kill him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice was slightly strained, the only hint that he was worried at all.

"Yes, no thanks to you." She spat, she hadn't exactly forgotten the reason she had been unconscious when she woke up at Qing's room.

Xiao rose and attempted to explain himself, but was caught up against the wall. He held up his arms futilely against Jann's fist of fury.

"Stop hitting him," Lei Fang said, catching his elbow before he knocked the man unconscious.

"What?" it was more statement than a question the way he said it.

"Ryu"- she stopped to catch her breath, "is in there, fighting Qing. He-" She looked at Xiao, "helped me".

They both stole a second to glare at him.

Xiao winced, if they patented that double glare it could be sold as a lethal weapon. He didn't expect forgiveness, and didn't want it. He wasn't proud of what he had done, but he knew in his gut that he wouldn't be at peace until he did something, anything, to atone for it.

"Jann Lee," Lei Fang said, a command in her voice, "put him down".

His eyebrows rose slightly as he looked at her, and tossed him, hard, against the wall. He sank to the grand with a cough.

"Isn't this precious?" Christie drawled, walking casually up the carpet to the suite as if there was nothing abnormal in the slightest about Xiao being on the floor and a trail of blood dripping out of Lei Fang's mouth.

"I can't understand why you are dawdling here. You all have bigger problems." She stopped then as she saw who she was looking at.

The corners of her mouth turned down and her eyes narrowed, the translucent irises glimmering with repressed angry.

"Jann Lee, you were late" she stated, more to herself than her audience. "This changes things slightly. Xiao? What are…?"

"Christie?" he coughed, Jann had thrown him quite hard against that wall, a thin plaster indent attested to. "Qing hired her to kill you both."

He wasn't panicking, Christie wasn't dressed to fight. She wore a cinched white silk dress that came suggestively up to her mid thigh, and ivory stiletto heels. A white satin choker sat pristinely on her neck. Xiao's line of thought for anyone else would have been perfectly valid. It was lucky for him that Jann Lee and Lei Fang had seen her in action before. Christie's whole style was centered on slipping through your guard. The way she dressed was no different.

They both moved into a fighting stance.

Christie laughed with a smile that stretched up to her eyes.

"Do you really want to be doing this now? What with that nasty bomb in the basement?"

"Bomb?" all three of them said simultaneously.

"Qing plans to blow this place and the 115 odd hostages in it sky high, blame it on you." She flicked a finger at Jann Lee nonchalantly "and then blame your death on a power hungry partner. Me, actually." She started walking again, slowly.

Xiao who had been concentrating on coughing suddenly whipped his head up. The fighters both looked at him.

"The bomb wasn't part of the plan I knew about!" Xiao defended.

"Setting me up was." She said venomously, "This makes things a whole lot simpler. I was planning on paying you a visit in Hong Kong after this, but it would be so much easier to kill you now and no one would ever be the wiser.""

"What about us?" Jann Lee asked. He had no intention of being killed after coming this far.

Christie raised an eyebrow, "Why would it matter to the two of you if I killed him? Didn't he kill one of your own? Wouldn't you finally have your vengeance? I'm giving you two a way out. Neither of you have to get your hands dirty. Just walk away. I'll even throw in how to deactivate that bomb."

Jann Lee looked at Xiao, then at Christie.

Xiao zi Zheng was wanted by several governments and Interpol for racketeering, theft, conspiracy to commit murder and one actual murder, of which Lao zhi had been the victim. The world would be a better place with the man dead. He knew all that, but…

There was a nagging feeling in his stomach. What she was offering was wrong. The kind of vengeance he sought was no longer attached to death. Maybe it was his time working with Song, or seeing Hong forced into gang membership, or the betrayal of the Dragons, somewhere along the line it had become clear to him that all problems could not be solved by fists and weapons. It was never going to end that way, it would continue forever, with more and more people dragged in. It needed to end, and the only way was to stop fighting.

"Jann Lee…" Lei Fang began, sure that his answer was the opposite of the one he had actually reached. "We can't just…"

"No, we can't." He said, looking at her with a bitter smile, as he remembered her face in the alley that day when he had screamed at her to let him kill Xiao.

_You only become the same as them_

It wasn't true, but it was true enough for him.

"You can't have him" he said.

"You might want to rethink that" she snarled slipping into her own stance.

Just then Ryu and the Qing/Akiko creature smashed through the oak doors behind them all. Ryu had the oni in a stranglehold. Despite the fact that it had grown several times larger in the few moments they had been standing there. Lei Fang and Christie were tossed out of the way by the creature's massive bulk. It landed on its back, almost crushing Ryu. Its eye scanned the room wildly and then fixed on one person. Although it had been howling in a woman's voice moments before, suddenly seeing Jann Lee brought back Qing zi Zheng full force. He tore his arms from Ryu's grip and flung the man by the leg across the room. Ryu landed with a catlike grace on floor several meters away, but by this time Qing had already rushed Jann Lee, grabbing him by the neck.

He shook him like a dog with a goose in his mouth. Jann Lee, fighting to get control of his limply flailing limbs, used the only muscles that were still responding, the ones in his jaw. He bit down soundly on the tender flesh between the thumb and forefinger. The creature howled in pain and tossed him like a bug against the wall of the hall.

"Jann Lee," Two voices shouted at him. The huge hulking creature filled the hallway. His arms looked like the terra cotta ones of demons he saw when he was a child. He looked up disbelievingly at the creature. One of those voices was Qing's, he knew, but couldn't quite believe that his nemesis was this…creature.

"Qing" he looked the creature in the eyes, only one was real. The white stone eye that he has so often seen was there. This was him. It was now or never. It was time to face the demons, he smiled slightly, a mere turning up of the corner of his mouth; he had never thought it would be literally.

"Jann Lee, Don't, you can't beat him while he's possessed." Ryu warned.

"I told you; whoever comes after me will learned why I'm the best in the world. Human or Oni, it doesn't matter." He looked over his shoulder at Lei Fang, who still stood with Christie blocking her path. The white haired woman had not by been fazed at all by the larger than life Qing. In fact she only seemed annoyed that she was completely being ignored. Rather than strike before she was ready, she simply waited for the focus to inevitable shift back to her. She was standing in front of the only exit.

"Lei Fang, you and Xiao go to the basement and deactivate that bomb."

He turned his full attention on the massive creature in front of him. Flames had begun to spurt from him mouth.

The other corner of his mouth turned up, he hadn't expected his demons to breathe fire either.

The ceiling shook slightly, causing the crystal chandler of the ballroom to chime together musically. It muffled the sound of a lone intruder in the ballroom, nether hostage or hostage taker. She moved as quietly possible and luckily any mistakes she would have made were covered up by the shaking of the building, not that she made any. Only the soft rustling of silk alerted Hitomi to her presence.

"Kasumi!" she whispered as a whisper of red hair disappeared behind her own back.

"I've secured an escape route," she said, voice as quiet as a landing feather.

"Careful," Gen Fu whispered on Hitomi's other side, there are gangsters mixed in with the hostages. They are armed." They didn't have to see her head to know she nodded.

"We need some way to ferret them out…" Kasumi mused, the gears in her kunoichi mind going a mile a minute.

"What we need," Hitomi said, looking at Tina and Zack across the hall with a devilish grin, "Is a distraction."


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Sorry, it took me so long to update. I've been traveling through Japan for the last month or so and there was no real computer access. When I finally got back to my university, Welcome week had begun and my schedule filled up fast so I wasn't able to churn out the chapter as fast as I thought I'd be able to. This chapter took forever to write, but set up the last couple of chapters pretty nicely. Also a late introduction for the last few characters to join the cast before the end. Only three or four chapters left! Thank you to my reviewers! Reviews are _**Always**_ appreciated!

Lupi Loop, Jann the Dragon, Midnight007: Thank you so much for sticking with me! (I'm glad your brother likes it, midnight! )

Rex J. Nibcore: I know I said I'd let you beta read, but I wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

To Everyone else who reviewed: THANK YOU!

As always, enjoy the new installment of dragon and Phoenix

* * *

Tina was annoyed

She didn't really have a problem with being held hostage, honestly. This was largely due to the fact that Bass had taught her every weapon disarming trick in the book when she was sixteen, in case his little girl was ever attacked by vicious men. Plus, she had fought in four Dead or Alive tournaments! She wasn't afraid for her safety in the slightest. She did understand that there were people who could not defend themselves and if she fought, she might cause some of them to be hurt. No, what was annoying was the fact that the hostage takers had seated her next to Zack and that Zack, even as a hostage wouldn't stop hitting on her.

Okay, so she had come to the tournament with him, and maybe gone on a few dates. It was fun while it lasted, but it wasn't fun anymore. He droned in her ear about his battle prowess and how he could beat up every one of these men with their little metal toys to save his 'Princess' if she needed him to. Had he forgotten that she kicked his ass at all four DOA's at some point? The only person allowed to call her Princess was her daddy. She was glowering at him fiercely, but he just wouldn't take a hint.

Hitomi was trying hard and failing at getting her perturbed friend's attention. Short of flat out whistling, she couldn't think of any way to draw Tina away from Zack.

"I'll try to get her attention," Kasumi said, rising ever so slightly from her crouch behind Hitomi.

"No." Gen Fu warned, "They are too close to the center of the room, even with your skills, you will be seen."

"Kasumi, do you have anything you can throw at Zack?" Hitomi asked. A pointy piece of metal was pressed into the small of her back.

"No," She whispered as one of the gangster walked by her, snapping at her to stop talking.

"Something round and hard, like a baseball?"

Kasumi thought hard. She didn't really carry throwing implements that weren't sharp, pointy or exploded on contact. Suddenly, she had an idea. In the hubbub of Ryu nforming her of the mission, she had forgot to put away the gift she had bought for one of the village children, a wooden Daurma doll. It was round, it was heavy, and it was perfect. She pressed the wooden, orb like doll into Hitomi's back just to make sure.

"Yes, that's good, now, here's what you need to do…"

Zack was not happy. Tina had dumped him, and seemed to be serious about it this time, despite all of his smooth sweet talking, which he was sure no woman alive could resist. Then there was this being held hostage thing. He didn't really do the victim thing, but figured it might help his chances with Tina if he could save her from hordes of men who were after her virtue. Princes rescued their princesses from evil all the time and got laid, right? They made enough movies about it that it had to be true. Unfortunately for Zack, his day was about to get worse. Kasumi, hidden behind a pillar, aimed her Daurma doll and fired, praying that it would d bring them good luck. True to her kunoichi profession, her aim was perfect. She struck exactly where she was supposed to; right on the back of Zack's head. With his hands behind his back, he couldn't stop himself from falling exactly where Hitomi had planned:

Tina's chest.

Her anger was instantaneous, fulminating and uncontrollable.

Her fist slammed into his jaw sending him halfway across the room. Completely forgetting where she was, she followed him, uttering menacing threats.

"You little…. Takin' advantage of a heated situation… I'm all vulnerable and this is what you do?" She growled. Her face was twisted in righteous indignation.

"Hey you! Sit back… what, whoa!" The guard hit the wall with a hard thud.

"Tina, baby, it was an accident!" Zack said as best as he could through his bruised jaw, moving as quickly as he could away from her, which resulted in a sort of backwards crawl. He really didn't want to get hit again.

Whatever you thought about the woman, she could pack a punch.

Two more guards materialized where the wall chucked one had been. These guards had crude looking guns attached their hands. One poked the muzzle of his gun into the exposed small of Tina's back, almost lifting the edge of her tank top.

"Freeze" he said quietly. Tina turned, still in full Texan I'm going to kick your ass mode, to find a gun point blank at her belly.

She did not freeze. She was more like liquid. The thug didn't see it coming. In fact, he didn't see it at all. One moment his gun was there, the next his hand was broken and his weapon was on the other side of the room.

This was the chance they had been waiting for. Muttering "sorry" under her breath, Hitomi hit Gen Fu soundly in the side of the head.

"Pervy old man!" She shouted in a high pitched voice, "don't look at me like that!'

It took him a moment to catch on.

"I'll look at you anyway I please," he mumbled. The words were hardly believable, but the important thing was he'd punched her back. They took their fight right into the guards that were coming to restrain Tina, who had turned into a disarmament machine. The Guns strewn in a heap on the floor around her feet. Zack too had recovered enough to catch the ankles of two plainly dressed men who had separated themselves from the hostages and tried to lay their hands on his Tina.

"What's going on out there?" One of the men in the side room cursed as he started out to help his comrades with the troublemakers. He fell before he made it past the doorframe.

Kasumi turned to face Eliot and Kokoro and found that they had just taken down two thugs that had been hiding with the hostages. It was good to have people watching your back.

"Quickly," she whispered so the remaining guards wouldn't be alerted, "You have to take them out, through the kitchens. We've got things covered here. I'll send the rest of the civilians in the ballroom through to you."

"Right," the two teenagers said simultaneously, motioning for the hostages to follow them.

Outside, the fight escalated as fighters from the competition who had either caught on or were let in on the plot by a red haired shadow joined in the uprising. Soon all of the gangsters who had mixed themselves in with the hostages were up and trying to restrain the crowd which threatened to break out into a full scale brawl, with Kasumi expertly collecting civilians who had shrunk on to the wall or hid in corners to get away from the fighting. When all of the civilians had been removed, Kasumi let out a low whistle.

Hitomi grinned widely. It was high time they showed these punks who they were messing with. She took a deep breath and then let out a bone shaking "Now!"

All at once, the groups of fighters turned on their captors, viciously attacking the still stunned guards. Despite the absolute chaos that was engulfing the Ballroom, it was clear that the tide was turning.

Or so they thought.

In the basement, a digital clock flared to green lighted existence. It was set for 5 minutes.

Christie stood calmly in front of Lei Fang and Xiao. She did not move as they started forward. Lei Fang suddenly took Xiao's arm as though he was a child as they attempted to pass her. Christie reached under Lei Fang's arm to try to separate them. Lei batted her away, glowering at her.

"We don't have time for this." She snarled, slightly panicked, "There are people's lives at stake."

"You're right" Christie stated coolly, "You don't have time for this. Hand him over and be on your way."

The floor shook slightly as behind them Jann Lee began the first warm up punches in his fight with Qing.

Christie sighed mentally. This wasn't going how she had planned at all. Xiao was the only living member of the gang that knew of her involvement. It was supposed to be a simple matter of tracking him down in Hong Kong when this had all blown over. He wasn't supposed to be here. But here he was, with the police right outside, waiting for enough information to lock her away for good. He couldn't leave this building, or even this floor alive. At the same time, she needed Lei Fang to at least get somebody to take care of that bomb. She doubted the girl knew how to deactivate it herself. She could just let the place blow, but that would draw too much attention to a situation already getting too much attention for her liking. It took her only a second to size the situation up. Jann Lee was distracted by her ex boss; Xiao was useless in a fight and where the fuck had the ninja gone? It was just Lei Fang. She could deal with Lei Fang.

Even though Lei Fang had been expecting it to come to this, she didn't see her move until she was struck. Her head spun to the side with the slap. She forced Xiao onto precarious strip of floor behind her that was free of Jann Lee's fight with Qing as she blocked the next attack. Speed was Christie's specialty. Another slap that turned out to be a feint as her other hand swept under Lei Fang's guard. It was obvious to both who had the advantage. Christie was rested and fresh while Lei Fang had been in two fights already and was sure she had a broken rib. Both knew this fight had to end quickly. Lei Fang's breath was ragged. However, there was something Christie, in all of her cool calculation, hadn't planned on.

Sometimes, it's the littlest things that you don't plan on that end you. In the case of Christie it was her footwear. She was wearing stiletto heels on an unstable floor, a floor with a crack in it. She meant to brace herself for Lei Fang's attack by leaning back slightly. Her heel caught and instead of back she started forward, straight into Lei Fangs favorite move. She slammed Christie's body into the wall as fast as possible and started, Xiao right behind her for the elevator. Christie stumbled to her feet, but wasn't fast enough as the door slammed shut. She slammed the button for the basement, hyperventilating slightly.

This was suppose to be a relaxing week, a week to mourn Lao zhi's death, a week to remind her to focus on the future. Instead every ghost, goblin and ghoul from had decided to come up from the bowels of past hell. Did she even know how to deactivate a bomb? Would it be straightforward? Just cut the red wire?

She gave herself a quick mental slap and tried to figure out what exactly she was going to do when she got to the basement when there was a thud on the top of the elevator.

She tensed, had Christie been able to jump down that far?

The top was suddenly wrenched open

She prepared for an attack; but thankfully there was none. A pair of red eyes regarded her silently for a moment before leaping inside.

"Ayane!" She had never been so happy to see Kasumi's half sister in her life. She could have hugged her, if she wasn't almost certain that she would react badly. "Do you know how to deactivate a bomb?"

Bomb?! Ayane's mind swiftly absorbed the new information, trying to fit it into the grand scheme of things. She went over the fairy tale in her mind again slowly until it clicked.

_The ninjas of the king of Oni, they needed neither sleep nor nourishment, for they were of the undead._

Suddenly it all clicked; the excess of men no matter what the skill level, the highly populated area, why a simple assassination wasn't arranged. Qing wasn't here to blow up a hotel. He was here to create an army, Akiko's army, the army that couldn't be stopped.

"We have to get to the basement." She stated a lot more calmly than she felt as she flipped back on to the top of the elevator.

She eyed the thick cords that were attached to the elevator's pulley system for a moment before pulling out a clamp and a few small explosives.

Despite the fact that she really had no time, Ayane paused to take a deep soothing breath and tried not to wonder if she could actually pull off what she was about to do.

"Lei Fang," she asked, trying to keep her voice from sounding grim. "What floor are we on?"

"34th, why?"

"Brace yourselves" she said, setting the explosives around one of the three moving wires.

She grabbed the open hood; made sure the clamp was ready and pressed a small button she had in her hand.

"Brace ourselves for wha-?"

The elevator bucked wildly and went into freefall.

Qing, or what he had turned into, eyed Jann Lee as he circled, feinted and punched. He was being cautious. He had always been cautious, the old him informed the new him; He's always been the brains of the outfit.

The new him wanted to know what to say to get Jann hot under the collar,

The old him could actually think of a lot of answers to that question, but the new him was disdainful of them all.

The new him claimed that those didn't provoke him, that they were just taunts. The old him snarled asked who knew Jann Lee better. A part of the old Qing was questioning where the new him had come from. He knew it had been there for awhile now, rippling beneath his skin. The old boss had referred to the presence as lady luck, mostly because of the woman's voice. He was certain that it was the Eye that caused it, but had never bothered to ask it. It had always asked the questions of him and he had always dutifully answered. She had transformed his meager street gang, and his own weak body in to something useful. A different part of him naggingly asked who the gang had become useful for. His own goals were now no longer clear to his old self. His new self, the self the eye had created, wanted domination. His old self had wanted that too, for a time. The Eye had given him all that desired in that respect, even though Jann Lee had gotten in there way more than once. The new self had developed an even deeper hatred of the man than the old self harbored. It was New self who had formulated the plan to rid them of Jann Lee forever. The old self began to wonder what the plan was exactly. New self had kept this plan to it's self. The New self roared and lashed out at Jann Lee, testing him. Jann Lee jumped over his fist easily and continued circling.

"What are his weaknesses, how do we disable him?"

Old self wondered bitterly why New Self was so eager to disable Jann Lee. It used to whisper promises and images of the fighter's death. Why now did it seem so eager to keep him alive? Old self was suspicious.

Old Self would not answer New Self's question this time. Old self would remind New Self whose was in charge.

"Answer me!"

Suddenly both Selves were distracted as Jann Lee attempted a triple punch to the jaw. Together they swatted him easily, bouncing him into the wall.

"Answer me!"

Old self stayed silent. Jann Lee kicked them in the gut and tried to swing the bigger creature into a wall, instead a fist the size of his own chest slammed in to him. New self tried not to be alarmed at Old self's newfound rebellion. I didn't come back from hell to be bested by scum like you, it snapped at him. Old self suddenly seized, it was if he had been lit aflame with acid. It was hard to scream when you had no mouth, but somehow New Self found away to smile.

"Answer me", it hissed

Old self gave up the answers slowly, balking further as his own pain subsided. He had come to a rather bitter conclusion. There was no New Self and Old Self. He has been tricked by New Se- he had been tricked by her, by the creature that inhabited the eye. There was Qing and there was her; and she didn't belong in here anymore.

Laughter trickled into the part of Qing that still inhabited his own body.

"I don't belong here? That's funny, because you stepped aside and gave control to me a long time ago. I suggest you just accept the inevitable." She said cruelly.

* * *

_Hong Kong, 5 year ago_

_He lit another cigarette, the third in twenty minutes. He had his guards do another patrol around the building. He was beginning to think they were incompetent. He knew there was a woman in his room. He had heard a voice clearly; he had felt hands on his skin, for the devil's sake!_

_He waved his cigarette around on the balcony nervously. There were enough people out there who wanted him dead and Assassins these days came in both sexes. The door to his room opened and the guard said calmly, "Sir, we've checked the perimeter. We found no way anyone could have entered. Ong is checking the surveillance we have on the maids..."_

"_Get out" he growled, "You're all incompetent."_

"_You're right," the voice purred into his ear. "They are nothing compared to you."_

_He spun around, but the only thing he saw was the familiar structures of his own spacious bedroom. _

"_But in this case," she continued, "I think you have to cut them a little slack."_

_There was amused laugher attached to the end of her speech and it hung in the air._

"_Who are you?" he shouted, "Where are you?"_

"_You could say I'm you," she whispered, "and as to where I am, I'm right here."_

_Qing was surprised to find that he was touching his own marble eye. His good luck charm. He wasn't aware that he had moved at all._

"_I've been watching you, Qing" she whispered, "You've had your hands full lately haven't you?_

_He ran his hands through his hair. Was he going crazy? It was true that lately he'd been under an intense amount of pressure. Two of the opium dens in Beijing had been raided and the prostitution ring in San Francisco had been exposed. It was a nightmare, and it was all because of that accursed Jann Lee. The fifth ring in a year to fall to that annoying tick from the past. All attempts to get rid of him had been thwarted so far, three worthless assassins that had to be taken care of. The fourth was on a recon mission for him. Qing doubted that he could part Bayman from the living world without that whole business in Russia coming out. _

"_You know, I could help." she said. "I could be more to you, Qing, if you wanted me to be. I could be more than just a lucky charm."_

_He laughed, "I must finally be losing it."_

_The sudden flash of red blinded Qing. His jaw went slack when he saw her; a vision in ghostly red. She regarded him, her long hair blowing in an invisible wind. Her face was inhumanly beautiful and her perfect mouth was curved in a seductive smile._

"_I can be more, do more if you want me to."_

_Images flashed before his mind. Jann Lee was a dead and mangle corpse. Bayman was dead as well. All the gangs of China and beyond would bend to his will. It was all with in his grasp he just had to reach out and take it. His eyes widened hungrily with greed and awe. "Can you really do all that?"_

"_Of course, just trust me"_

* * *

Qing was hesitating. Jan noticed it right away. He was in his own head, not really paying attention to Jann Lee. He tested the waters again, throwing a punch at the monsters ankle. He was flicked away like a fly but not pursued. This didn't feel like a fight between long time enemies. Then suddenly something flicked across Qing's face. It relaxed into an evil smile that sprouted fangs.

"Here to face your demons are you?" It was a woman's voice that came out. She sounded like steam venting from a kettle. "It's not really our fault that you killed Lao zhi, or that you are going to kill Lei Fang. Why don't you just go fight yourself for awhile and leave us alone."

He said nothing. He had been expecting that kind of taunting anyway. Taunting was just another way of distracting the enemy. Another form of blows that didn't use fists. He aimed for the mouth this time and she threw him back.

"The boy, Lao zhi, he was only in the gang because you joined, right? He'd be alive if you hadn't have dragged him in."

Three punches to the gut this time. Still nothing. Was Qing, or Akiko as Ryu had called her, impervious to damage now?

The monster observed him for a moment. "The girl, Lei Fang, she is here in danger, because of you. She will die because of you, because of her need to be near you. You had the ability to save her, but you refused to use it. It's the same as killing her. But you know that, you're not that stupid."

He wanted to scream at her, 'It's not the same' but he knew it would just fan the flames so he kept his words in his mouth.

"I've been in your shoes before", the creature said as though attempting amicability.

"Trust me, if something happens to her here, it's your fault. Whether it's me that kills her, or our assassin friend."

Christie had disappeared a few moments earlier.

"You won't have the chance," he said quietly, " and when I'm done with you, she won't stand a chance either.

The creature shrugged and attempted to slam him into the wall. He used the size to his advantage, ducking underneath its arms to get at its neck. He didn't care what hell it spawned from. A broken neck is a problem for anybody. But the creature was laughing at him again. She punched him, down into the floor and it gave way beneath them, they fell heavily as they continued to fight.

The Elevator drop was so sudden Ayane had less time to react than she though she did. Grabbing the clamp, she snapped it on to the remaining cables and prayed that friction would be on her side. The concrete numbers on the inside of the shaft whizzed by her; 30, 15, 7. Fortunately, her plan was working. The elevator's decent slowed at about floor 9 and when the steel box slammed in to the floor of the hotel's basement, the crash was survivable. Ayane didn't move for a moment, her purple hair stuck in the up position. Even for a ninja of her experience, free falling from the 34th floor was a little scary. When she had recovered, she stuck her head in the elevator. Qing, despite a few lumps on his rear end, looked like he was fine. Lei Fang had hit the floor pretty hard and in her already damaged state, blood had come spurting out of her mouth. Wordlessly, Ayane shoved a bottle filled with blue glowing liquid down her throat. Lei Fang blinked. All the pain instantly subsided. She felt even better than she had a few nights ago. The group tore out of the elevator, into a maze of corridors.

"Which way is it?" Xiao said frantically, his head spinning back and forth. Ayane closed her eyes, chose a direction and ran.

Also running, Ryu held an item of extreme importance. He had worried that she had been smart enough to leave it in China, but he had thought to check anyway. Experience had taught him that villain's liked to keep their weaknesses close, to keep an eye on them. Would this be a fatal mistake? He could only hope.

At a bar on the other side of Tokyo, A bulky American and a certain chronically drunk martial arts master were having drinking contest when a news flash lit up the TV. Bass couldn't tell what the hell the Japanese newscaster was saying, but his attention was caught when his daughter was suddenly on the screen, fighting a dozen or so armed men.

"Tina?" he said startled, grabbing the TV from out of the wall. "Wong, what are they saying?"

SSShomting about, Hosssstages in a hotellllll. SSShheee's a hostage? I'ddd like to hold her hossstage-" He was cut off by a resounding smack to the back of the head as Bass ran out of the bar.

"Don't worry, Tina! Daddy's comin'!"


	11. Chapter 11

Well, it's been awhile, I know. It took me a little while longer to get re-adjust to my home country than I thought. I recently finished my thesis' for graduation, so I will have more time to update now. This is the second to last chapter, and then I will have an epilogue, so it's really the third to last chapter I guess. It's a little rough, I will go over it for grammar agian. I'm a little confused about the new Beta reader option and havn't been able to procure one yet. I will make fixes as soon as I figure it out.

Thank you to my reviewers! Reviews are always appreciated, they also lead to faster updates.

Enjoy chapter 11!

* * *

It was if gravity it's self was disapproving. The heavy mass of Qing's body outweighed the sturdiness of the floor. Down, down, down they went with the floor on each story giving out beneath them. They continued to exchange blows despite the hard bits of wood and concrete debris flying around them. It was insane, he realized as the monster swung him into a wall and then pulled him back into their tumble, to believe that he would win this. As it stood now, he did not know if he would or could survive the fall they were in and the creature's grip on his leg was almost absolute. His brain, despite the savage beating and possible concussion, was still grappling with away to turn the situation into one he could come out on top of.

On top… he almost smacked himself in the head, the idea was so perfect.

The hotel underground was a labyrinth of tunnels that seemed to merge together and split off so seamlessly that they had walked in a circle four times before anyone realized it. The doors were all identical. The normal foot traffic of such an area had erased signs that would have led her to the bomb immediately. At this rate, it could be anywhere, there were no clues to be found. A number of supply closets dotted the hallway. It seemed like the obvious place to hide a bomb so all three of them had taken to breaking down the doors to find it. In very short order, they found that if they kept this up, they would be blown to smithereens long before they even got close. Ayane cursed foully as headed down the nearest hallway to continue the search.

"This isn't working," Xiao said between breaths. "There's got to be an easier way to do this."

"Like what?" Lei Fang snapped, "Wait for it to go off? It's not like we have a map with an x on it! Keep looking!

"A map…" Ayane mused as she smashed into a nearby door into a room full of sheets and other bedding. It wasn't exactly true that they didn't have a map. Ryu had provided both herself and Kasumi with floor plans of the entire building, but she could hardly see how that would help them figure out the placement of the bomb. Christie could have placed in it anywhere on the floor and it would easily accomplish Qing's objective.

Or would it?

She stopped short as Lei Fang forced a jammed door open and fell into a room of crates with a yelp. Xiao had to climb into the room to pull her out. Luckily, it only gave Ayane time to test her theory. She whipped out her map and compared the first floor schematics with the basement map. The basement, she noticed, was sectioned into three parts. The first part, cut off from the rest of the basement by a wall made mixture of steel, lead, ceramic and concrete held large food storage centers and was conveniently located underneath the first floor kitchens. Right now, with the invasion of thugs in the hotel, they would be mostly empty. The second section was on the other side of the hotel and held refuse, laundry and the like. It was under the main lobby of the hotel, slightly farther back than the lobby itself. The section in front of that was located directly beneath the ballroom and housed miscellaneous items. Judging from the kinds of things they were finding, that was where they were at the moment. The three sections surrounded a support beam ran through the center of the hotel all the way through to the penthouse where Jann Lee and Qing were fighting. The beam was part of the reason the hotel was able to maintain its cylindrical shape. Suddenly, Ayane realized where the bomb must be. A large bomb would char broil most of the bodies in the blast and make them no good as an army of undead. But a bomb to the support beam might crush some bodies but leave parts intact. She slashed the paper where the beam should have been.

X marks the spot.

Ryu couldn't stop staring. There was a big hole in the floor. They were actually fighting through the floor. It complicated things a bit more than they were already complicated, seeing that it would be impossible to get him the all important artifact if they were actually tumbling through the floor every five seconds, he could see them through the hole some ways down. He quickly checked the integrity of the floorboards around him. Thankfully, Hayate had managed to find and destroy the wards that prevented teleportation. Even so, he did not like the idea of having to teleport while falling. It was a well kept secret the Ryu Hayabusa did not like jumping from extremely high vantage points, even if constant training had obliterated any fear he had associated with it as a child. With one final curse he jumped and let gravity carry him thirty stories down before disappearing in a shimmer of silver smoke.

Where did they all keep coming from? Tina tossed another man into the wall. Around her feet lay enough guns and ammo to open up her own munitions shop and they were still coming. Loud continuous fire blasted from the entrance to the ballroom and fighters scattered like birds when a cat got into the yard. Tina made a sour expression. It seemed that Mr. I'm-gonna-smack-poor-innocent-people-around-because-I-get-a-kick-out-of-it had found a machine gun. Kasumi disappeared in a cloud of sakura petals as he fired and reappeared above him, using the momentum created by gravity to slam her heel in to the left side of his neck. He let out a yelp and fired upward, startling a cry from her as she shimmered out in pink air again to kick his feet out from under him. She scrambled to grab the weapon while he was disorientated and managed to grab it and fade away before he recovered.

Xin yi Rongji was not happy about this job. He had _never _had a job sour on him like this before. Qing had flat out lied to him about the scale and scope of it, not to mention he had just had his ass handed to him by a little girl.

When he got a hold of that Qing…

Right now though, he thought as he tried to pick himself up from the carpet, he had to fix this. There was no way he was going to get paid if the hostages continued to run amok. Succeeding in righting himself, the whippy little man smash his fist into the jaw of one of the tournament contestants and the man dropped like a stone. The man's specialty was hand to combat anyways; the guns usually made everyone behave like good little boys and girls. But the people in this crowd didn't seem to be intimidated by impressive toys. Well, some of them anyway. He observed the fight as much as he could before he had to K.O. someone else. There was a group of seasoned vets in there, like the weird girl who kept disappearing and reappearing, like some sort of ninja, and that crazy American girl. He swiveled his head to get a look at her. One of the other vets, a slim black guy, was trying to show off for her and she was ignoring him. It implied two things.

One: she was important to the group leading the uprising

Two: ignoring her ally had left her blind on her left side

With a grin, he launched himself at her while she was disarming yet another thug.

Tina didn't see it coming; she only felt his heels connect with her side as he slammed into her.

Ouch.

Song scratched his old balding head. His source had left out a number of very relevant details when she had phoned him. Yoshida had nowhere near the amount of men to handle this situation. Plus, this kind of thing never happened in Japan. If it was America or China, they would have elite forces specially trained to deal with this sort of thing. He supposed Qing had known that the Japanese police carried guns that weren't loaded and it would take an army intervention to stop his plans. Even the army might have trouble with this group. Sighing deeply, he took out his bulky silver cell phone and tapped a panel in the back. A sleek razor thin phone slid out of the compartment. He flipped it open and expertly punched in a number. His source picked up the phone and spat out an incredible list of profanity.

"Nice to hear you in such good spirits" he smirked into the phone.

She cursed louder.

"Careful, someone might hear you and I take it you are not in a position to be caught by either party at this point" he said logically

"Don't get smug with me, Song. What do you want?"

"The exact numbers of both the hostages and the hostage takers. I know you know them. Your 'vague estimation' on the hostage takers was way off. I didn't come with enough men and I'm losing precious time mustering them."

There was a snort on the other end of the line.

"Relax, Song. This thing has almost played its self out. At this point there is nothing you can do really- Oh shit!"

Song held the phone away from his ear nonchalantly as another episode of profanity ensued.

"What?" He asked when the screaming had subsided to grumbles

"I ripped my fucking dress, bad enough I ended up sliding down the fucking ventilation shaft. I _liked_ that dress and the heels are fucking ruined. Oh, _Someone _is going to pay for this."

"I sincerely hope you mean metaphorically, my dear, it is not Interpol's fault if you chose to wear a dress knowing that the job was risky. I'm not giving you a cent."

"I mean painfully! Oh look… how sweet" her voice dripped acidly "Two of the members of the happy fun sunshine club are leading a good number of the hostages to safety. You might want get a medic over to the back door of the kitchen, Song. They're carrying the wounded. That boy, what does he think he is a freaking knight in shining armor, he's carrying a man for frick's sake." she muttered the last part and he heard a shuffle.

"It seems like every able bodied fighter is in the ballroom duking it out including your Xin yi Rongji. Oooo, it looks like he's giving the happy fun sunshine club a run for their money. Ha! I always knew there was a counter to that punch! Get her! Get her!"

"Try not to sound too concerned." He answered dryly.

"If you send SWAT in here, they'll confuse hostages with thugs and it'll turn into a real bloodbath."

"Lovely, but seeing as it's the only option…"

"Song, you are so unimaginative; no wonder you didn't last as an assassin. Send back in wonder boy and super girl when they get out with a message to the good guys. They made it this far after all- What the bloody fuck is that sound?"

With that the call cut out and Song snapped the phone shut.

"Yoshida! Hostages coming out the exit to the kitchens! get an evac team there now with medics!"

Captain Yoshida, happy with any change in the state of things immediately complied. Five minutes later when Eliot and Kokoro came stumbling out the door with the civilians, there was help there waiting for them. Yoshida was congratulating the two children on their bravery when Song showed up.

"Where are wonder boy and super- I mean where are the two responsible for getting these people out?"

Yoshida looked at him strangely, but motioned toward the two children.

Song sighed as the two teenaged faces looked up at him. They were kids, great. He just loved how she kept leaving out important little details like that.

"We need to send them back in."

"What?!" Captain Yoshida turned an interesting color that agent Song didn't know that the human face was capable of turning. "You can't be serious!"

"My source is telling me that as of now SWAT wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the good and the bad in there. These two are friends of the people spearheading the revolt to get these people out. We have to get word to them so they will be able to identify themselves to the authorities and don't end up corpses. Just think how bad that would look for your department, Captain Yoshida."

The good captain proceeded to change color yet again.

The Captain promptly insisted that a group of officers go in with the "poor children" as he called them, but to his surprised the escort was refused by both of them. They knew how to handle themselves, they said.

While Yoshida was trying to comprehend how 16 year olds knew how to handle themselves in this kind of situation Song conveyed his message, the two nodded in sync and headed back inside.

Song's phone vibrated against his leg and he pulled out the black phone again

"Agent Song? I'm glad I could reach you. There is a bomb in the basement."

"Come again?" he said, for once surprised

"There is a bomb in the basement. We are looking for it now." The voice confirmed

"Do you know how to deactivate a bomb?"

Yoshida's ears had picked up on the word bomb and the look on his face was one of growing horror.

"I don't but they both seem to know…"

"Who is 'they'?" Song asked urgently. The line crackled

"----can't----hear----breaking---" The line went dead.

Shit. This was getting complicated. He looked at the door where wonder boy and super girl had gone back into the fray. For the first time in 15 years wondered if he had done the right thing.

"This is wrong" Ayane stated looking at the obstacle in front of her.

"It's a wall." Xiao said, pointing out the obvious.

"Could they have planted a bomb in the wall?" Lei Fang asked, her hands moving across the smooth surface, even though they were not exactly sure what they were looking for.

"Maybe," Ayane said biting her lip. Her own hands traveled across the wall, covering a larger distance than Lei Fang's and thankfully found what they were looking for. She almost breathed a sigh of relief, even though she knew it was premature.

"This is a dummy wall." Ayane explained.

She took an object from her belt and checked the charge. It was absolutely imperative that it be as low as possible while causing damage.

"Back up"

She said a prayer and threw it.

The wall was badly damaged but not destroyed. Lei Fang took care of that, smashing what some people might refer to as her 'delicate' side into the wall, shattering the remains. Climbing through the debris, the entered what appeared to be a large, well kept office that seemed to have been abandoned. Dust coated the objects in the room. There were several desks and file cabinets as well as other kinds of office paraphernalia.

"Alright, fan out and search."

* * *

_Hong kong, Golden Dragons Dojo , 8 years ago_

"_The first thing a good fighter learns has nothing to do with hitting hard or being quick. The real skill is in knowing how to fall. The first two are good skills to have if you're not fighting someone who can hit you back. Being able to rebound can save your life." _

_The man fixed his two new pupils with a hard stare. "_

" _Now show me how you fall." _

_The burly teacher threw Jann Lee to the floor so hard he felt his teeth clatter painfully. He took the thud next to him to mean the Lao had a similar experience._

_Their teacher shook his head. "I give you two minutes out in the real world before you are returned to me with your heads on spikes."_

_Jann look defiantly at his teacher, if he didn't know any better, the man might think the boy was sulking._

"_Be as a cat, land on all fours, or smack the ground and roll." Depending on the situation, you will be in both a position to attack and to add distance from you self and your opponent to recover. Never land on your back. There are terrible things an opponent can do to you when you are that vulnerable._

_He attempted to demonstrate maneuvering Jann Lee on to his back and attempting to strike the throat with his foot._

_Even in practice Jann was not one to allow himself to be manhandled. He punched out at the foot at his throat and attempted to sweep the vulnerable one he was balancing on. Drawing back from the punch, his teacher slammed his foot into Jann's belly, forcing his entire body upwards. A 'love tap' to the forehead slammed his skull into the floor so hard it bounced. The teacher withdrew._

"_Never land in that position. Remember that and it might save your life."_

_

* * *

  
_

He wasn't sure how he did it, but one minute he was being pummeled by Qing underneath him and the next he was on top of the demon, trying very much to mimic a move he had seen Ryu do countless times before, and even once had the displeasure of being on the receiving end of, with one slight modification.

Tina struggled to her feet as the man who had the machine gun earlier lunged at her again. This guy knew what he was doing. She made a mental note to pay as much attention as possible the next time anyone explained karate, judo or any of those Asian martial arts her daddy had so frowned upon when she was a kid. Bass had been all American when he taught his daughter how to fight. The guy was strong as an ox and whippy too. Twisting around Tina as she tried to grab hold of him, he clamped his hands around her throat. With a satisfied grin on his face, he began to squeeze.

"Tina!" Hitomi screamed, horrified. She was besieged as her help fell around her. Kasumi's pink clouded entrance was foiled by one of the thugs and she was dragged away from her air deprived friend. Tina clawed at his hand and dropped to her knees.

'Not like this,' she thought to herself, terrified, 'I don't wanna die like-'

There was a scream in the air as a dark fist collided with the man's face, ripping his hands from her throat. Tina's airways opened and air rushed into her deprived lungs.

She looked up and for the first time in long time was happy to see the familiar dark figure standing with his back to her.

Zack looked at her very quickly and nodded, before shouting out to his foe:

"Here comes the Zack attack!"

Before he could do anything more substantial than brag, the ceiling gave a moan and the crystal and wood above shattered. Nobody in the ballroom knew exactly what they were seeing as the giant red ogre slammed down on to the floor with Jann Lee on top.

"What in the name of my Great Aunt Sally?" Tina shouted, surprised

"What was that?" Xiao shuddered and looked up and the shaking ceiling.

"Keep looking" Ayane barked in desperation. "It has to be here, It has to be."

They had torn the room to pieces, but there was no bomb. It just wasn't there. Xiao began to bemoan the inevitable, and his wailing became so frustrating that Lei Fang slammed her fist into the back wall. It went through it like butter and with a small cry she fell through a second mock wall in front of a rather large, beeping box that flashed 2:35 angrily.

"Ayane!" I've found it." She cried, relieved

The ceiling shook again and bits of mortar dislodged themselves to rain down on Lei Fang's head. She rolled out of the way as Ayane descended on the bomb, kunai in hand. Her red eyes flashed nervously,.

"I'm not familiar with this kind of triggering device." She bit her lip, "give me a minute"

Lei Fang clamped her hand over Xiao's mouth, which was on a continual repeat of, "We're gonna die, We're gonna die"

She was pretty sure that Ayane didn't need to here that right now.

After a few moments of careful analysis she lifted her Kunai and sliced two wires.

A second of paralyzing fear later, the clock blinked off. Smiles of relief flooded all three faces.

Crisis averted.

"Run into trouble, Christina?"

Bayman couldn't help but smirk as he took in her appearance. Normally impeccably kept, Christie's appearance was disheveled and looked largely like someone had thrown her down a coal shaft. Her hair was a birds nest and she had scrapes and bruises all over her body that were the result of tumbling violently down thed air shaft when it was ripped out of the wall.

"Xiao got away," she muttered, "last time I wear heels to a fight."

After taking a moment her composure, she continued. "He's probably with Lei Fang in the basement, trying to deactivate the bomb." She smiled like a snake.

Bayman grunted, there was no way he was going outright ask what kind of nasty trick she had up her sleeve.

She continued to smile evilly as she motioned him to follow her.

"Thank goodness!" Lei Fang smiled wider, "Let's go"

The explosion was so sudden she didn't know how Ayane managed to knock them back in time not to be incinerated. For reasons unknown but to God, and maybe Christie, the C4 in the larger bomb did not go off, despite the intense heat.

Thugs and fighters alike scattered at the site of the mutated Qing. Eliot and Kokoro began to redirect the good guys out of the building through the kitchen while the thugs took the route of jumping out the ballroom's windows, into the waiting, but bewildered, arms of Song's SWAT team. The floor shook and then gave way, which caused everybody but Jann Lee and Qing to scurry away even faster. Qing on his back was trying to swat away Jann Lee as he attempted to attack his vital organs. Jann was very sure his old teacher had never tested his on the back theory when it came to incapacitating demons. Down they fell again. Qing howled as office equipment bore new holes into his back.

"Jann!"

What happened next occurred in only a few second.

Qing's head whipped towards the voice. Lei Fang stood near where they had landed. Before either one of the couple could react, his massive claws lashed out and sank so deep into belly flesh that they exited through the small of the back. The tips of the claws dripped red drops of blood

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's note: Well it's been awhile, hasn't it? I really didn't mean to take that long updating this, but well, life got in the way. So I give you chapter 12. Now this was suppose to be the last chapter before the epilogue, bu there were just too many loose ends to tie up so expect one more chapter by the end of next week, with a epilogue soon to follow. As always I hope you enjoy and take the time to review._

_-Scarlet  
_

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Chapter 12

Stunned, Jann could only stare at the mass of flesh and blood that drooped over the claws of the creature Qing had become. She was dead? Was she dead? That was impossible. He turned towards a guttural laugh coming from the creatures mouth. A fire started in his chest and spread through the rest of him.

How dare he, How _dare_ he...

The mantra filled his mind as rage took over and no longer considering his own survival, he leapt for the creatures throat.

Lei Fang struggled in and out of consciousness. There was a crushing weight on her chest. Nearby sounds glanced off her ears like bullets. Someone was quietly calling her name. It slipped in through the sounds of battle and the rushing of blood in her own ears. She was on her stomach, her hands brushing the abrasive concrete beneath her. Slowly, painstakingly, she managed ever so slightly to turn herself. Qing's arm, she was being crushed under Qing's arm. It twitched and she took her chance as it bucked forward, scuttling out from underneath. He seemed to be stuck, claws embedded in the wall; and there was somebody in between the wall and the claws. Her hands flew to her mouth as blood rushed out of Xiao's. The claws were buried deep into his intestines. Even if she could find a doctor, he was finished.

"Lei...Fang..." It had been Xiao calling to her.

"shhhhh..." she said soothingly. She wasn't a medical professional, but she could tell he didn't have much time left.

He shrieked in pain as the claws bucked again, shredding into his stomach, and the yellow bile began to spill out.

"I don't, I don't have much time."He grit his teeth. "I'm... sorry, Sorry for Lao, For everything."

Tears intermingled with the blood, "I'm sorry for everything, so fucking sorry."

She looked at his pain wracked face.

"Forgive me." he pleaded

Her mouth dropped open slightly, stunned at the request. This man had haunted Jann, killed Lao and under different circumstances, if Jann had been a minute too late, he would have killed her too. How she could she forgive him? He had tried to make things as right as he could. Was this man redeemable?

He coughed, causing drops of blood to speckle her face.

"Do you forgive me?" he asked wetly

"I-"

And then he was gone. With a triumphant cry, Qing freed his left hand from the wall. Xiao's body lurched forward and was tossed to the other side of the ballroom. She didn't hear the thump but she knew when he hit the wall, he was gone.

Rage.

It was a feeling she knew well. This body was failing. It had been failing for sometime now. She had never been so close before. Youth and inexperience were beautiful flaws in a person. Qing had none of the restraint the old Snake boss had. That man had know what he was dealing with. Never got too close or too angry. Temptation and promises were her only weapon, and even then she had been but a caged dog, well leashed when sicked on his enemies. Qing had given her free reign, She ruled over his business, his thoughts, his body. At last, she thought, would be free, but he had proven more difficult than she bargained for. His anger towards Jann Lee had kept her from full control. It had also kept her alive. She wondered when exactly Qing had noticed that his food no longer nourished him. She had used that anger to tap into his body, had whispered soothing words and fed. After hundreds of years of observation, she had come to believe that hatred was the strongest human emotion. It gave those on the brink of death the power to surge back into life. It had been her own hatred that had brought her to her fate. Hatred allowed her to surpass it. She, who in her lifetime had been a slave, an assassin, vengeance incarnate, and finally the devil's bride. Hatred had allowed her to rise above all things. However, the rage she felt from the young man who Qing hated burned like nothing she had ever felt before. Qing was failing. She could feel it in the sinew of his muscle, the tissue of his lungs, the sounds of his ragged breathing. He was failing as so many others had failed before him. Again she would be trapped. It was time to leave.

For the first time in many years, Jann struck blindly, the skin around the neck was thick and ridged with scales. There was no longer anything human about Qing. The Oni gave out an inhuman howl as it lashed out at Jann. He batted the arm away. He shouldn't have been able to, but he did. The creature struck with it left hand and the body on the claws flew off to the other side of the room, arcing over the few combatants that were crazy enough to still be there. He hurled one of his signature three punch combos into the side of the creatures mouth.

How dare he treat her body in such a fashion. The flesh on which he stood shook as the creature tried to rise and he forced it down again, maintaining his advantage. He kicked the creature in the jaw and it head snapped to the side. It would suffer for what it had done to her.

A beam above where Jann and the Oni had fallen groaned and fell. The building was no longer structurally sound. Kasumi grabbed the man she was fighting by the band of his pants and tossed him out the window like a bartender with an annoying customer. They had to get out of here. Most of the ballroom had been evacuated. All but a few headstrong or too stupid to care thugs were still trying to keep order. A body flew over her head and slammed into the wall, dodging flying fighters and debris, she ran to assistance. The man was beyond her help. His hand grasped out impulsively, and caught her by the wrist.

"Lei...Lei Fang... help Lei Fang" and with one last shuddering sigh, he passed from the world. Kasumi turned toward the battle in front of her. Where _was_ Lei Fang?

"Ayane!" She screamed over falling chunks of concrete and steel. She spun around frantically, "Ayane!" To her left, the creature tossed off Jann Lee and began a steady ascent back onto two feet, she moved frantically between violently displaced office furniture.

"Ayane!"

"Here!" came an annoyed grunt. Ayane was pined beneath a large chunk of concrete and the wall beside the bomb, she ran to assist.

"Tsk, Tsk, What a mess. Housekeeping is going to have a fit when they see this place, don't you think?"

Christie laughed manically, staring down at the chaos below from two floors above.

Beside her, Bayman's face remained carefully neutral. "Just do it."

She shook her head at him. He needed to learn how to enjoy the moment. She leveled the remote control over the edge of the pit and pressed the small, glowing blue button.

At that exact moment, there was a whoosh from above and Christie pulled back just in time to avoid colliding with a black blur.

Ryu landed on the second floor with a thump. The creature appeared not to notice, struggling as it was with Jann.

"Jann!" He called out, Jann Lee turned his head to look and the creature threw him against the back wall of the ballroom. Lumbering forward in triumph, the creature climbed out of the basement pit and lurched forward into the ballroom. A flash of purple caught his eye as Ryu moved to go after them. Ayane, and with her was Lei Fang.

Her heels dug into the floor as Lei pushed at the block, Ayane pushed too. Groaning, The block scrapped against the floor.

"Almost, ugh, got it..." She huffed.

Abruptly there was a loud beep and the bomb flared back to life, a big, blue 10 minutes flashed on the screen and began to count down. The eyes of both women widened.

"How is that...?" Ayane cursed under her breath, "Hurry!" she shouted in desperation, "We have to get everyone out of here! Push!" With a final effort she shoved the block loose and Ayane limped free. Arms encircled both her waist and Ayane's.

Ryu only spared a moment to glace at the bomb, before gingerly carrying the two women out of the pit.

"Take this," shoved the small white urn into Lei Fang's arms. "get it to him. She can only be destroyed with this. I will get the remaining people out. "

"Lei!" Kasumi shouted relief evident in her voice as she saw the three of them. Ryu didn't waste anytime, handing the injured Ayane over to Kasumi as he quickly explained the situation. Lei Fang broke into run towards the monster and Jann Lee.

"You don't even stop to consider the danger to yourself, do you?" Ryu muttered to himself. Warranted, he had sent her into the danger, but she could have refused. Even though he knew many loving couples, he knew very few who would face a rampaging Oni for each other. He said a silent prayer for the two of them as he ran to clear the building.

Kasumi backpedaled towards the ballroom, waving her arms at the remaining fighters.

"Everybody out! There's a bomb!"

"Bomb?" a sallow face thug gulped on the word. In a few seconds, the last, most loyal of Qing's thugs turned tail and fled. All but one, anyways. The remaining group ran towards the Kitchen door, Zack was the first one to realize that Tina wasn't there.

"Won't be but a moment, sugar." Tina huffed, unaware that they had already left. This was undoubtedly the toughest fight of her life. Her captor went for her left side. Dodging, she sent a vicious uppercut that almost caught his jaw. Her opponent twisted out of the way and parried catching her arm and tossing her forward. At that moment, Qing's foot slammed the ground and she lost her footing completely Seizing on the momentum, He flung her to the floor and slammed the heel of his boot into her stomach. The "Ugh" was forced out of her along with some blood. Huh, her opponent thought evilly as he kicked her side and then her head, what do you know? She bleeds just like everybody else. Tina tried to right herself only to be pummeled back into the marble. She wasn't going to go down like this, please god, not like this. She was Tina Armstrong, for Christ's sake. She took another blow to her head, and this time caught his ankle, throwing him forward.

It was not going to end like this.

"_She's dead, you know." _the voice spewed from the Oni's mouth, the seductive sound was offset by the pure horror of the Oni's appearance.

" _I told you it was inevitable. We are not so different, you and I. Qing's memories tell me this."_

How had she gotten so tall? She towered at least two stories high.

"_It's not my fault, you know. The world is to blame. It betrayed you like it betrayed me. But it doesn't have to end like this. We can get back at it, together."_

"What?" Jann Lee was incredulous. "Don't be ridiculous"

"_All I need is your body, Give me your body. I can show you things you never even dreamed of. The world will be at your feet. There is nothing I cannot reverse. We could even find away to bring her back."_

Briefly, he almost considered the thought and then stopped, disgusted with himself. He would not allow her to be used as the enemy's weapon. He was stronger than that. Her memory was worth more than that. He would respect her death, not shut it out.

"No." he spat the word venomously at the creature "Nothing _you_ could do would ever bring her back. Take Qing and go back to hell where you both belong"

"_Too bad, I don't need your permission"_ the Oni's arm swung forward and the eye resting in the base of the palm, now the size of a bowling ball flew out and hurtled towards him with dark purpose. The now just Qing Oni immediately began to shrink, and then to shrivel. Jann didn't have any time to notice the transformation as he leapt out of the way, causing the eye to slam into the wall behind him. It wriggled out and sped at him again. He dropped to the floor and rolled. His hand landed on a piece of support beam. He swung out at the eye at it attacked him a third time and hurtled it across the room.

"Jann!"

He whipped around and for a very brief moment, time stopped.

Lei Fang stood there, alive and whole. She was covered in dirt, blood and god knew what else, but she was alive. Lei smiled at him ever so slightly, hair wafting across her face. She held up whatever was in her hands triumphantly. For an illogical moment he thought it might be a trophy. Her mouth moved into a startled "O"

"Watch out!"

The eye slammed into Jann's chest. He flew through several sets of debris before smashing into the marble wall where Xiao's body lay. The eye did not stop her assault. She gored into his chest, he punched her and pushed at her, succeeding just once at pushing her off before she managed to bore back in. There were red tendrils sinking into his brain, eating away at his sense of self. He was not Qing, he was not going to just give in. He fought with an inner strength he had not known he possessed and for awhile it seemed as though it was going to work. Until his limbs began to move on an accord not his own. In a shriek of triumph, Akiko forced Jann's body up from the floor. He fought lashing out against his own mind as they stumbled forward, the eye fusing with his chest and shrinking again into the small, seemingly harmless pearl that it had pretended to be for the last few hundred years.

Lei Fang leapt over falling beams and concrete "Jann!" Her throat was choked with dirt.

He moved jerkily towards her. She stopped where she was.

"Lei Fang" the voice that spoke sounded as if it had never met her before. The greeting was a hollow recognition of her person, not who she was or what she meant to him.

Something was terribly wrong.

"Who, who are you?" she asked uncertainly.

"Clever girl," Jann's voice said against his will. He chuckled. "I wonder if your friends will be as smart. I can be very very good at hiding myself. Will they believe me when I tell them Qing has killed you, I wonder? Or will you be a good girl and let me have my way. It would be easier for you, maybe even rewarding."

"What have you done to him? Give him back, monster." She held up the white marble urn like a christian would hold up a cross. Akiko frowned.

"Oh, not going to play nice, are we? He chuckled again. "I don't know what you've got there. But it's not going to save you." She pulled one of Jann's palms back, chanting softly. There was a sickly glow of crimson energy. "I warn you, walk away now or you will not like how this ends."

As she had with all things involving Jann Lee, Lei Fang stood her ground.

"Have it your way."

The ball of energy launched forward, but she didn't try to run or even to duck. She held the urn out in front of her and the impact shattered it. Marble chucks flew everywhere, releasing a fine snow white cloud that blanketed both the possessed Jann and Lei Fang.

Akiko held one of Jann's hands up to catch the dust.

"What's this?"

The wind began to whisper, a soft hushing sound that echoed in the arena of broken beams and chunks of stone.

"_Akiiii, Akiii" _

Jann's eyes widened in confusion.

"Impossible!"

"_Akiiii, Akiiikooo"_

"Satoshi" Jann snarled, "It can't be, you're dead." She utilized Jann's familiar smirk to finish the comment. "I should know, I killed you."

"_I'm sorrrry, Akiiiii" _ the whisper said, the dust stirred it's self into a cloud that settled around Lei Fang.

"_Dddeeeatth doesn't woooorrrrk like that."_

Lei breathed deeply and she could hear the voice inside her head. It was soft and undemanding, but strong nonetheless.

"_I am sorry, my child, but I will need to borrow your body for the moment. As you can guess, it is very hard to do anything as ash."_

The fine dust from the urn was ash? She tried hard not to think about the fact that she was breathing in human remains.

"_She has stayed too long in this world. I did not have the strength to destroy her when I was alive. but it is my calling, even from the grave. Strike at the pearl. Without the pearl, she will be called back to her master."_

Jann Lee? Will Jann Lee be alright? She thought at the voice. She felt his sigh go through her body.

_I do not know. But to even have a chance at freeing him, we must destroy her._

The ash settled around Lei Fang's hands, giving them a faint silvery glow. She dropped into her fighting stance.

"Oh? Does Satoshi want us to play?" She took up Jann's stance easily.

"Show me" there was a flicker of light across his dark eyes and for a moment Lei thought she could see the real Jann Lee, unobscured by Akiko's darkness. "Show me that you belong in my world."

Akiko threw back his head in laughter as Lei's jaw set in determination.

"I won't lose."

Tina's world blurred in and out clarity. So this really was it then. It was a shame, there had been so much she wanted to do, and she hadn't even won a Dead or Alive Tourney yet. Her attacker stood over her, Cackling maniacally. He brought his hand up for the final strike.

Zack struggled against Eliot and Hitomi. He had to get back in there, Tina was in there. The ground shuddered and the building swayed warningly. Police were clearing the area. The ballroom was mostly caved in. Hitomi didn't want to admit it, but it was very unlikely that their friend was still alive. Tears blurred her vision as she held Zack back.

Oh Tina...

To her left there was a whirring sound, and then so fast she almost didn't see it a motorcycle zoomed by her on a collision course with the one last window left in the whole place.

"TIIIINNNNNNNAAAAAAAAA!"

Tina looked up at the shattering sound. Above her, bathed in light, was her father. The motorcycle slammed down on her assailant with a crunch. What a way to go, she thought, staring at the place where he had been.

"Helllloooo Princessss" Brad Wong stumbled to the rescue as Bass tried to free his motorcycle from the corpse. With one last heft of the front wheel he managed to get the bike loose. He protectively grabbed his battered daughter from the groping hands of her rescuer and placed her on the bike in front of him.

"Hi, daddy," she managed to cough out. Bass gave a proud smile. His little girl may be all grown up, but she still needed her daddy to get her out of the big scrapes. Wong jumped on the motorcycle as Bass revved the engine. He raced up a support beam and back out the window.

Just then, the bomb went off.

Jann possessed fought like, well, Jann possessed. Akiko hadn't been lying when she said she could improve him. He was quicker, hit harder, screamed louder. She had turned him into a force of nature. By contrast, Lei Fang felt like she was underwater, she could see the moves miles before they came. She was totally calm. It wasn't natural to be fighting like this. Then again, she was fairly sure that it wasn't her fighting at all.

"_You think you can just come back and make everything right, again. Don't you?" _Akiko's tea kettle whistle of a voice slipped out from Jann's lips as a punch caught Satoshi and Lei Fang in the chest. Satoshi did not reply. He stayed honed on Jann's chest. Akiko aggressively pushed him back, but the offense was masking her defensive moves.

"_I'm not sorry for killing you! I'm not sorry I did it!"_

_Japan, Feudal era_

_He moved quietly down the corridor, taking care to hide his shadow from the rice paper screens. The lord was becoming more cautious than ever it seem. The nightingale tiled floors and ceilings were new, but Satoshi was certain the Hiroyuki did not know about them. He suspected she had a lover, of course. But it was the unfounded suspicions of a man in love with something he could not have. The fact that his brother confided in him was proof. He quietly entered the women's quarters. Two maid slept and unnatural sleep, barely breathing on the wall, he could feel traces of spite and jealousy emanating off of them. He was correct then. He had found her. He carefully healed the women. They would wake in a few hours with no memory of what happened. In the next room, she sat waiting for him. He knew she knew he was there when her half moon shaped eyes narrowed and she greeted him._

"_Master ninja, does Lord Hiroyuki know you are sneaking into his wife's bedroom?"_

"_I imagine he would be upset if it were still Lady Haname in there, Aki" he replied. He did not stand in a fighting pose. That was not what he was here for._

"_You still presume to call me by my childhood name? We are Aki and Sato no longer."_

_The string of pearls around Lady Haname's neck glinted red in the moonlight._

"_You fulfilled your purpose. You killed my brother. You avenged your homeland. Why are you still here?"_

_She chuckled darkly. "Do you think I stayed for you? Do not fool yourself, Satoshi. I have allied my self with a power far greater than you. I have had my revenge. You are no longer a useful tool."_

_He continued as though she had not spoken, "I think you do not want to return to your master. Repent, take responsibility for your mistakes and allow me to purify you."_

"_So you come in your roll as priest then, at least that is more respectful than begging lover." _

_She absently rearranged the lady's kimono around her. _

"_I am tainted, and not by my lord. Your brother tainted me. He tainted with his flesh! I am unclean, and will always be unclean."_

"_Aki," he moved closer, and she glared at him._

"_What is it you pretend to offer me, salvation? You could have been my salvation. You could have stopped him!"_

"_Aki... I have always regretted that I did not intercede. I allowed my love for my brother to overshadow my love for you. If anyone is tainted, it's me._

"_Oh, Satoshi." she moved forward and embraced him. He was far too trusting. She stabbed him in the back. Once, twice, three times. He died there in her arms. "I...will...come back for you..."_

"_It was always too little, too late. At least my lord does not lie the way you do. I waited for you. I waited for you to burst in the door. But you just stood there. You stood outside and let him have his way. You couldn't possibly love me and do that. Go to the other side knowing you are not forgiven and that my wrath is YOUR fault."_

"_You... have killed the only chance you had at salvation. Our next meeting...will not end well."_

Jann Lee did the only thing he could do. The only thing he had ever done. He fought as hard as he could. When Akiko wanted his arm to go left, he told it to go right. When she wanted to take a step back he tried to move forward. He wanted Lei Fang to beat him. If she struck him down now, she would be able to get out before for the building collapsed. She would survive. That was enough for him. But she wasn't striking to kill, rather she moved to incapacitate. There was an ethereal glow to her hands and rather than trying to comprehend the situation, he just accepted he had no idea what was actually going on.

A beam crashed down behind her and he cursed to himself. If she stayed any longer there would be no way out for her. Gathering his strength, he put it all into one last effort.

Jann's body suddenly stilled. With a triumphant "Hiya" Lei's hand landed on the pearl. There was an almighty crack as the pearl shattered. Jann's body flew into the nearest wall. Suddenly released from Satoshi's grip, Lei ran to him, shouting his name. A cloud of red dust appeared and took the form of a woman, her face was covered in cuts and bruises. She was missing an eye. The true form of Akiko, the Devil's bride, once the most beautiful woman in all of japan, was an ugly mess.

"YOU!" She shouted as she towered over Lei Fang, "I will make you suffer for what you have done. Why should you be allowed to be happy! Why should you get a happy ending?"

The ghost leaped for the couple only to be tossed aside by a white figure. Satoshi.

"Go back to your master." an orange light emanated from a crack in the hotel floor.

"NOOOO!" she shouted, leaping again for Lei. Satoshi caught her and carried her, kicking and screaming toward the hole.

"Come, I will go with you. My penance for not stopping my brother. You shall not be alone."

His reassurance did not faze her and she screamed until they were out of sight and the light vanished.

Lei stared at the spot on the floor, until Jann's cough brought her back to the present.

"You must get out of here."

"What about you?" she asked. He coughed again.

"I'll slow you down." She shifted his body so that his weight was on her shoulders. She felt as though she were thirteen again, bringing him back from his initiation.

"I'm not giving up on you" she said against gritted teeth. Together, the stumbled out of the last available exit as the building blew up behind them.


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: I think I am going to just stop giving time frames for updates, I can never meet them. I've read this chapter a bunch of times, but I've always been in a rush, so please forgive me if there are spelling or word errors. It got slightly mushy, but hey, what can you do? I hope you enjoy. The epilogue is on it's way._

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Chapter 13_  
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The once proud hotel swayed perilously on its foundations like a jenga puzzle. Hunks of steel and concrete bloomed off the building and slammed into the street below. Song took a deep puff on his cigarette. Yep, the building was definitely going down. Where the fuck were Jann Lee and Lei Fang?

There was a sudden break in the proceedings as a motorcycle burst out of one of the windows and landed mere inches from Captain Yoshida. The good captain was frozen in place, whimpering incoherently as the driver got off the bike and apologized. The motley crew of fighters that had taken responsibility for evacuating the building ran over in joy. Apparently, one of their own had been rescued, the tall blonde the newscasters had managed to film through the windows. A particularly enthusiastic dark skinned man was in danger of hugging her to death. Song tossed his cigarette butt to the ground and rubbed it out in frustration. 'Come on, you bastards' he thought angrily at the building, 'where are you?'

The floorboards threatened to buckle as Lei Fang moved through the falling debris. Jann seemed to be recovering, placing his own hand at the small of her back and urging her forward as they finally emerged on the large metropolitan street leading to the hotel entrance. Agent Song noticed the two dots at the doorway, leaning on each other for support. They made it. They actually made it. Song allowed himself to grin. It was going to be- An eruption shot up from below, knocking everybody of their feet. In a blast of heat, Jann and Lei were knocked forward. The bomb was the straw that broke the camel's back. There was a groan that could have been confused with a roar of a feral animal as the Tokyo Royal Hotel began to collapse. The rain of steel and glass was nearly unavoidable. If they had been anyone else they would be dead. A large piece of sheet glass sliced towards them and they pulled apart. Lei caught Jann's arm, tossing him forward as she slid under piece of a hunk of building debris. He returned the favor by pulling her out of the way of a steel beam.

"It's like they're dancing" Tina said to no one in particular as the group watched in horror as they made it halfway across the hotel grounds. It was too risky to help. Kasumi and Ryu had tried to teleport in twice, and had just nearly missed being sliced and diced. Impatiently waiting behind the barricade, Hitomi and Kokoro shouted largely unheard words of encouragement.

Jann Lee was learning all kinds of things about impossible today. Onis and giant moving pearls should be impossible but they weren't. Ghosts and hell appearing at the bottom of a hotel should be impossible but they weren't. Moving at supersonic speeds while exhausted and bleeding out wasn't impossible either. They were almost there, he could see Hitomi and that Japanese girl whose name he never remembered and really didn't have time to remember right now, arms outstretched over the barricades trying to reach them. Hitomi's hand closed over his wrist. They were there. Lei Fang started over the barricade. Nobody heard the shot ring out. She stumbled back, the impact forcing the blood out of her chest. Jann Lee's eyes widened as he pushed her over into the arms of her horrified friends. Someone was calling for a paramedic for them both. He wasn't paying attention as he flipped her over. The bullet hole was perilously close to her heart, but not quite there.

"Jann..." she said horsely, it sounded like she was gasping for air. He refused to look at her face, instead focusing on the wound. Had the bullet punctured a lung? Where the hell was the paramedic!

"Jann...It's okay, I'm okay." She brought up a hand and cradled his cheek. "I promise you. Everything is going to be alright."

With that she let herself be pulled into a hazy white light.

"Not how I thought I was going to do that." Christie said, dissatisfied, "Though I have to say the timing couldn't have gotten much better, after all that, she died by being shot."

Beside her Bayman was silent. "You didn't have to do that. Qing was dead."

"Call it a matter of honor. I never leave a contract unfulfilled. Disappointed, Bayman? You seemed to like the idea of letting her go."

He gave Christie a look, "So do you, apparently. That shot wasn't fatal."

She laughed nervously, like a kid with caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Well, not if the paramedics have any talent at all, but I have to keep up appearances. Besides, the man who hired me to protect those two refused to pay the dry cleaning bill for this."

She swept her hand up and down her body to indicate her cinched white dress which had been so spectacularly ruined by blood, dirt, sweat and some sort of vent.

"I had to send him a message."

So they had been working for the same employer after all. Bayman chuckled, knowing that she probably didn't realize it and he wasn't going to tell her. Song clearly had friends everywhere.

"My work is done here." Christie disassembled the sniper rifle with ease. "If you're ever up Sapporo way, stop at a bar called Anya's. I'll buy you a vodka." With that she was down the stairs of the building and gone.

_Four days later..._

"Lisa!"

"Can you tell us anything further about the collapse of the Tokyo Royal?"

"Does Fame Royal Co. have any comments?"

"Was it a chinese terrorist attack?"

"Is it true that you are La Maparosa?"

Lisa, whose latest job was the spokesperson for the Fame Royal company, calmly gazed out over the sea of reporters.

"Fame Royal currently has no comments on the reasons behind collapse of the Tokyo Royal. We are currently cooperating with the police and Interpol to bring the those responsible to justice. Fame Royal would, however, like to thank the individuals who spearheaded the evacuation at great risk to their own safety. Although they cannot be here today due to injuries sustained during the blast, on behalf of Tokyo Royal and her patrons who were in the hotel during the attack we thank them." She bowed low to the news cameras and began to proceed off the makeshift dais.

"Lisa! Wait! Is there any news on the fighter who was shot exiting the building? Rumor has it was a mob hit."

Lei Fang came back to the world of the living sleepily. She glanced around the unfamiliar room, nurses were bustling to and fro.

"She's coming around"

Suddenly, Jann's face was in front hers, copper eyes blazing.

"Rest."

And she did.

Hitomi was actually surprised she came out of the whole ordeal uninjured. Ironically, the doctors had said she would have had the same amount of damage if nothing had gone wrong and she had participated in the tournament as usual. She stood outside Tina and Elliot's oblong hotel room. Inside, Tina was asleep; Zack was on her bed asleep with her. They were holding hands. It seemed that they had made up once Tina had stumbled off of her father's motorcycle and realized how worried he was over her. Bass and Wong had gone across the street to the local bar to get some food. She made a mental note to her self to wake Zack before he got back. Kokoro had found a large assortment of markers somewhere and was drawing on Elliot's arm cast. His leg was in traction. He wouldn't be up and around for several weeks yet. Gen Fu was busily explaining to him how this would affect his training and they were animatedly discussing a recovery regimen. Helena and Lisa had stopped by earlier. As it turned out, Helena owned the controlling shares in Fame Royal and wanted to thank them all personally for minimizing the loss of life. She was paying the medical bills too. She had even tried to see Lei Fang, but she had still been in surgery. Helena seemed a little put out after dealing with the weary Jann Lee but asked that Hitomi call her, at that point she pulled out her business card and handed it to her, when Lei was awake. The ninjas were nowhere to be found. Kasumi had said a short farewell before shimmering off, but Ryu and Hayate had just vanished. It was a shame. She had wanted to talk to Ein, to work everything out between them, but the gang takeover had complicated things. Maybe she was just kidding herself, it had been almost two years since their last conversation. Two years was a long time to hold on to somebody without a word. Staring off into space, she nearly fell though the doorframe when she realized the object of her thoughts was standing right in front of her.

"Ah!"

Hayate reached out and grabbed her by her upper arms, righting her.

"Hey," he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face. "I wanted to see if you were alright."

"Just the normal amount of scrapes and bruises." She replied falsely cheerful, "Tina and Eliot are going to be here for awhile, though and Lei is still in surgery. Jann is beside himself..."

She let her voice trail off.

"Are you alright? Jann was asking Ryu about you before he vanished."

"Let myself get ambushed," he whispered. He almost laughed as her eyes widened and she began checking him for injuries.

"Hey, I'm the one whose checking on you, remember? I'm glad you are alright." The air around him began to shimmer.

"Wait!" She shouted. The air stopped shimmering. He looked at her expectantly. She choked a little as she realized she didn't have much to say.

"Why did you send Ryu to me at the hotel?" she finally got out.

Hayate frowned. "At the time we were supposed to be taking Lei Fang to a safe location. That's how I got myself ambushed. I sent Ryu because I needed you to be safe."

She looked up at him from under her long lashes, biting her lip.

"Does that mean you still care for me?"

His eyes darkened, and he leaned down and kissed her. His lips were strong and warm, Hitomi wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her to him. They stayed like that a long moment, until they both finally, begrudgingly, had to come up for air. He rested his chin on top of her head.

"You know, I think Ryu was so hard on Jann about Lei Fang because he considered him a civilian, but he isn't."

"Huh?"

He still held Hitomi as he looked down the hall to Lei's room. "It is the most terrifying thing, not to be able to protect the ones you love. Better they forget about you, or even hate you, and be safe rather than come after you. Ryu's wife is like that. She had to be involved, and it almost killed her."

"Oh," Hitomi hadn't even know Ryu was married.

"I go places you can't follow." He said quietly into her hair, "You can't, but you would if I let you know where I was going because you care. It's why I love you. So I'd rather leave you where you would be safe. I'll be back when it's all over. I promise."

She looked at him stunned. He loved her, he had said it so easily, like it hadn't been almost two years since they saw each other last.

"I'll worry."

"I know, but I'll come back to you." the air began to shimmer again, blurred by both Hayate's transportation and Hitomi's tears.

"Ein?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

He gave her a half smile as he shimmered away. Hitomi sank to the floor sobbing. Kokoro and Gen fu ran out into the hall to see what was wrong. She couldn't stop crying long enough to tell them.

Sometimes, Loving hurt terribly.

The pain in her chest had not subsided.

There was a metallic feeling right down to her heart the ached when she breathed.

Inhale, 1, 2, exhale, 1,2, inhale...

She drifted off into unconsciousness again.

_Hong Kong, 2 years ago Rising Phoenix Dojo_

"_You are late again, Lei Fang. I am beginning to question your commitment to Tai Chi Quan. Has the glamour of being a superstar made you forget your duty?"_

"_I am sorry, Seifu. I am not questioning my commitment."_

_She bowed very low, the picture of a penitent child. The seifu's eyes crinkled at the edges. _

"_Let us take a walk before practice, granddaughter."_

_Rising Phoenix was well outside of the city limits and was able to boast beautiful gardens and woods that, in addition to being beautiful, also served training purposes. _

"_Your parents are concerned for you."_

_Seifu kept up a brisk pace for his age, Lei almost had to run to catch up. _

"_Really?" It was not a surprise. Her life hadn't exactly taken the path her parents had expected. Tai Chi Quan was supposed to be a disciplinary tool, not her life. She had gone from full time to part time at the university, delaying her biology degree by a year, to participate on the fighter's circuit. Her father had told her time and time again that her career as a doctor, and eventually as a mother, was what should occupy her thoughts._

"_Your father keeps asking me where you are going with your studies. What do you plan to do."_

"_And what do you tell him, Seifu?"_

"_To stop asking me questions I do not know the answer to. I have recently spoke to Gen Fu, he is training his successor. A british boy, still very young."_

"_What about his son?"_

"_Huang was never interested in the dojo, modern technology has called him away. With his daughter so ill, he works as hard as he can to pay the hospital bills."_

_They stopped walking on the middle of a small bridge that led into the medicinal gardens._

"_I have decided that it is time for me to train my successor as well."_

"_Ah! And who have you chosen?" Lei Fang had no idea who her grandfather would pick. He had many students, but not one that he spoke of more highly than the rest, not to her anyway._

"_A question first. Gen Fu says you a getting a reputation in fighting circle for something other than your skill." He glanced at her sidelong, there was something she didn't understand in his eyes. He says that there is a particular man that you have been declaring yourself against and that the feud between the two of you is known to stretch back to your days before the circuit? Is that true?"_

"_Yes, Seifu."_

"_Tai Chi Quan is above petty squabbles. If that is how you intend to use the gift I have given you-"_

"_Seifu," It was the first time in her life that she had interrupted her grandfather. "Forgive me, this is not a petty squabble. I am simply trying to communicate with him in the only way that he understands. To him physical force is everything. He believes that it will make him the best of the best. I know that there are other fundamental needs in order for a person to be strong. I want to show him that."_

_The old man raised his eyebrows. There had been a running rumor in the family for years that Lei Fang was hiding a boyfriend. She was a very beautiful young woman, and it was natural for young men to be attracted to her, but she had turned all the appropriate ones down. She did not even allow her parents to set up a suitable match. It was like she already had someone else in mind. _

"_And have you beaten him yet?"_

"_No, he has won every time."_

"_What is the name of this man?"_

_She blinked, "Jann Lee"_

_Ah, The boy was well known, a fighter with a shadowy past. Nobody was quite sure where he came from, but he fought well. Several dojos had tried to recruit him, but he preferred to be a bouncer, of all things._

"_And what happens once you win? Once he sees things your way? Will you continue to fight the curcit? Continue to perfect your skill?"_

"_Of course" she blinked again, as if the question was crazy, "This is what I do."_

_Her last statement, although not as elegant as he would have hoped, was telling to him. He had made the right choice. _

"_Then perhaps you would consider taking over the Dojo when I retire."_

_Her jaw dropped, if it could have slipped off of it's hinges and hit the ground it would have._

"_Seifu..."_

"_You are easily my most skilled student. You do not know how proud I am that you are my granddaughter." She remained quiet, still stunned. "Well?"_

"_I would be honored."_

_He started to walk again "I think I would like to meet this Jan Lee. How do you find him?"_

_Lei Fang gave him a warm half smile, that confirmed his belief that his granddaughter was very much in love with this man, even if she didn't know it._

"_You don't find Jann Lee, He finds you."_

She came out of her own memories with a jolt. The room was dark, and the only sounds were the terse beeping of the heart monitor and shallow breathing. The nurses had left her bed in an upright position, and she noticed, almost alarmed that there was a head resting on her legs. Jann Lee lay sleeping across her knees. His face was drawn from worry and maybe pain. He had a bandage above his eyebrow. Even in sleep he looked fierce. It occurred to her that she had never seen him still before, except for the aftermath of the fight in the bedroom. He was always moving, plotting, thinking. Sleep seemed an unnatural state for him. Feeling a little stiff, she brought her fingers to his fingers, tracing cuts and callouses. His eyes opened immediately and he sat up, startled. He was shirtless under his beaten up leather jacket. How had he managed to get into a hospital without a shirt on?

"How are you feeling?"

She took a deep breath and felt as though somebody had decided to put an ice pick through her.

"Sore."

He breathed a sigh of relief. She reached out and grabbed his hand. He held onto her. They sat like that, just together, for a little while.

"I thought you were dead. I thought Qing had killed you." he whispered

"It was Xaio. He killed Xaio. Lao Zhi is avenged." Her voice was soft, with a thread of steel through it.

"Lao will forgive me if I say that it was only you I was thinking about at the time."

She turned to look at him. His eyes were straight ahead, but he still held her hand in both of his.

There was that feeling again, a slight current, a spark that shivered through her body. A roll of thunder coursing through them both. It was magnetic.

"Jann..."

Song walked into the room without knocking.

"Well, I must say I never expected you to take out the Hotel when we made our agreements. That is going to be a whole mess of paperwork I don't need." He snapped the rubber band on his wrist.

"Agreements?" Lei looked at Song that an passing animal might look at a coiled snake, assessing the threat. "We only ever made the one deal, Song."

Jann's eyes narrowed to silts in his tanned face.

"You made a deal with her?"

Song looked at Jann Lee with a flash of dislike, before his face returned to it's usual mask.

"You know, the purpose of an informant is to inform, not give out information whenever you see fit. You didn't even try to contact me throughout the whole affair The police would have arrested you if another plant hadn't called me and made sure I showed up in time. You weren't suppose to engage Qing either."

"He kidnapped Lei. What was I supposed to do?"

"Call for backup."

"It would have tipped Qing off. As it stands now, nobody knows that you and I were connected. Which is better for us both."

Song snapped the rubber band on his wrist angrily and wished hard for a cigarette.

"Per our agreement, I won't be arresting you" he snapped at Jann. "And per our agreement, Lei Fang, all the charges against him have disappeared." He glanced sidelong at Jann Lee. "You know, she is a much better negotiator than you are. Although..." the next part was said grudgingly, "The intel you were able to gather prior to the mission was excellent. There is a place for the two of you at Interpol, if you ever want it."

Song looked at the two of them with genuine respect in his eyes. It was not something he did to anyone often. Jann gave him a curt nod that felt very much like a dismissal.

With a tip of his head to the lady, Song left the room, snapping his rubber band as her went.

Lei Fang looked at Jann, the expression in his eyes was ominous.

"You bargained with him for me?" the edge in his voice was angry and hurt. She didn't understand it.

"He said that they had enough evidence to put you away for life. You would never see the light of day again. Since the bounty was on the two of us I had to come so Qing could be drawn out. He said if I didn't cooperate they would go after you! I couldn't let them..."

"I can take care of myself. You shouldn't have put yourself in danger..."

"Oh, but you should? Why is it alright for you to throw yourself into danger at a moments notice and say it's for someone you care about," Her heart monitor spiked warningly, "But when the people that love you try to protect you, you won't let them? It's a two way street."

Jann went very still. Stiller than he had been while sleeping. "What did you just say?"

She did a quick mental recap, and landing on the word that had provoked such an unusual reaction, her eyes widened. That was not how she pictured telling him that she loved him. She had always figured that someday she would work up the nerve, perhaps during one of those quiet dinners they had during tournaments. Together at a small, all night restaurant, when nobody else was around. She had pictured herself as being quiet and firm about it. She had never considered his reaction because she had no idea what it would be. Lei had hoped that if she said it the right way, he would return the sentiment. She had never pictured screaming it at him from a hospital bed with all the force her almost damaged lungs could muster. Why could he just accept her love, just this once? Just say alright and lean back in his chair and they could go on the way they were. He was looking at her with a slightly dazed expression, like she had grown three heads. She couldn't take it. A stab of pain, that had almost nothing to do with the gunshot wound, echoed in her chest. She lay back and closed her eyes. They were suddenly shook open.

"Look at me." It was a command, not a request.

Jann Lee was standing over her with a look that she had never seen on his face in her entire time of knowing him. His eyes were like pools of molten amber, hot and intense. For a split second she was afraid of them. Thunder rolled through her ears and the warm, rough grip of his hand on her arm sent little shocks through her body. His free hand came up to her face, brushing away stray strands. Her cupped her cheek, and in a moment of what Lei felt was absurd bravery, she surged forward and kissed him. It was a different kiss from the kind in the bedroom. He needed no encouragement. He surged forward and practically slammed her into the back of the bed. They were fused at the lips, his tongue pushed demandingly at hers and she gave in, giving him access. The spark and current that had gone through them before returned with a vengeance. They both welcomed it. Jann's hand snaked behind Lei's head and held her there, not letting her draw back even for air, not that she was trying to. By contrast she was pushing herself against him as hard as she could. Gripping on to his arms and whatever she could reach, not letting go.

"What on earth?"

The two snapped apart suddenly at the voice behind them. An angry Chinese man stood behind them, behind him there was a shocked older woman. There was no question in his mind who these people were. The woman was almost an exact copy of Lei Fang, if not 30 or so years older. These were her parents.

"Father..."

"We come all the way from China because we were told you were shot and in serious condition, to find you making out with, with... who are you anyway?"

His face was an intresting shade of purple.

"Jann Lee" he answered, "Do not speak to her that way." He said tightly.

Her father responded by turning an even darker shade of purple.

"So this is what you have been doing with your life, is it? Fighting in tournaments and tearing down buildings and making out with gang members and..."

"Jann is not a gang member!" She shouted. "I have some say in my own life, father!"

She struggled up in the bed, and ended up coughing hard. A strong hand adjusted her back, the coughing eased. She smiled at Jann Lee.

"Dear, you're upsetting her." Her mother moved forward to take her daughter's hand. She looked at Jann Lee was a faint amount of puzzlment, and a look a genuine appreciation.

"Thank you for looking after her."

He nodded at her mother.

Her father was still sputtering, trying to recover himself.

"I should go." Jann stated.

Lei looked horrified. He leaned down, his breath tickling the delicate ridge of her ear.

"If you need me, I'll be at home"

She watched him walk out.

Home? Where was that?


	14. Epilogue

_I can't believe I've finally finished this story! It's been a pleasure writing it and I want to thank all my wonderful readers and reviewers for being so patient with me throughout the years. This epilouge has been rewritten several times, and I finally settled on this version to end the story. I hope you like it. As always, enjoy, and I want to thank any future readers for reading this story all the way through. I hope you ejoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_~Scarlet_

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The Dragon and The Phoenix- Epilogue

The rain hit the ground in steady sheets. The cacophony of people in the overcrowded street below trying to save their makeshift houses from the flooding was muffled by the steady pounding on the punching bag. Jann moved like the rain on his window panes, fluid and sudden. Thunder broke the rhythm he had been keeping for hours. Rolling a kink out of his neck, he wound down, eventually coming to a weaving stop. The eerie green glow of the digital clock sitting on the concrete floor let him know he still had a few hours before work. He stretched out before calling it an evening. Meticulously cleaning his equipment, he placed it in a corner. He might have just as well left it out. There was nothing in the apartment save his training gear, a rolled futon and an old kitchenette set. Heading for the table, he grabbed a application for a tournament. Where was it? Germany? It wasn't time for that tourney again, was it? That would mean...

It had been nearly a year since he competed last; nearly a year since he left Lei Fang in that hospital bed.

A small voice in his head kept telling him he was moping. He should get back to the circuit, get back to what he did best.

While Lei Fang hadn't shown up, both Song and Ryu had. Both offered him work he'd refused. Both had left the door open if he changed his mind. Qing was dead, Lao was avenged and Lei was no longer following him.

He had all he'd ever wanted, didn't he? Why didn't it feel like a victory?

The pamphlet hit the table with a smack, and he picked up another one. Morocco. Now there was somewhere he'd never fought before. It was a new tournament too, invitation only, sponsored by the father of a club owner he was friends with. Nobody from the usual circuit would be there. He began to fill out the application, stopped, and started again.

This was a good thing. He was moving on, for the first time in a long time. On the plus side, maybe Hitomi would stop calling him. Always dodging his questions about Lei Fang, telling him to compete, that he'd feel better. It was well intentioned advice from someone in a similar situation, he knew. But he could still resent her for it.

Voices in the hall startled him out of his reverie. It was Bai, by the sounds of it. Someone had to stand guard on nights like this or the entire shanty town would end up squatting in the halls.

There was a terse, high pitched reply. A woman. The voice sounded familiar.

The voices rose and started shouting. Jann headed to the door, surely Hitomi hadn't come to talk him back onto the circuit in person...

The moment he opened the door, he was greeted by Bai's body flying down the hall. He slipped into fighting form without having to think about it and headed into the foyer, where Ah Gou was dubiously eyeing Bai's attacker. His fists were raised but he made no move towards her. Instead, he darted out of the way expertly as she surged forward. Jann reacted immediately forcing himself between Gou and the woman. It was over in a second. Her arm snapped forward and he caught her by the wrist, the maneuvered around her, twisting her arm up her back painfully.

"She was asking around about you, boss. Considering all that's happened, we didn't want to be too careful. We asked the lady to leave, _politely_." He stressed the word, annoyed. Bai and Gou were usually gentleman when it came to the ladies. Usually.

In the heat of the moment, he hadn't gotten a clear look at the attacker. He looked down at the crown of black hair pressed to his chest and made a startling discovery. He released her wrist so suddenly she stumbled back on her heels.

"Lei Fang?"

The glare she gave him was monstrous.

"Lei Fang?" Gou exclaimed, surprised, "It's been years! I didn't recognize you!"

Gou's obvious delight shook Lei out of her thoughts.

Jann just stared.

It was her. She didn't look any different than she had a year ago. She was in the same long blue dress she had fought in at the first DOA Tournament, golden phoenix gliding down the front. Her attention was flickered between Gou's polite apologies and himself.

She was there. Right there.

He turned and headed back to his apartment.

"Wait!"

Lei flew after him, leaving a chatty Ah Gou mid-sentence to dash down the hallway.

She scrambled through the open door, only to hear it shut and lock behind her. She turned at the sound, long hair swirling. Jann leaned on the door, arms crossed, and regarded her. It reminded her very much of the same look he had given her when he had held her in his arms all those months ago. She had a million things to say at once, the words rushed forward and wrapped around her tongue, impairing speech.

"Hi."

She immediately felt like an idiot, but continued on anyway. "I'm..I'm sorry. I meant to come sooner. It's just... so many things happened after you left... It wasn't that easy."

The deepened frown on his face was the only way he expressed his disapproval.

All at once she was enraged. How dare he put this all on her! He had all but disappeared after saying good bye to her that day.

"You left me there, Jann! I was shot and you told me you would be 'at home' and just left." She walked up to him and poke him in the chest. "All this time, I've been trying to prove myself to you. Just when I thought I was beginning to matter, you leave me there! You give me one good reason why I should have rushed to your side!"

She was huffing now, rage building, her pointer finger still jammed into his chest, demanding he explain himself.

"You needed space, to be with your family. I... wasn't needed. I thought you would come around when you could."

She threw up her hands, spun on her heels and stormed away from him. Barred from leaving, she stopped at his concrete window to glower at the rain. He approached her slowly, as though she were dangerous. He did expect her to strike out as he closed in, but nothing came.

There was nothing left, he realized, nothing holding him back, so why was he still hesitating?

Some things are just never easy.

"It killed me, waiting for you." he said quietly. "I thought..." his hands hovered above her shoulders, not quite touching, but applying invisible pressure. His voice was as hoarse as the breath on her ear.

"When I didn't hear from you, I thought you had changed your mind. I wanted to go after you, but..."

She turned to face him. Her eyes reminded him of when they fought, focused and determined.

"but?"

That same current that connected them a year ago was back, pulling him towards her. He rested his hands on the side of the window frame.

"Everything has changed. I've spent most of my life hunting Qing and the White Snakes. Qing is dead. Song has pretty much buried the Snakes. Lao Zhi is avenged. I don't know...how to start over."

He broke away from that disturbing current, turning his back on her.

Never once had he considered that it was not Lei Fang that needed time to adjust. It was himself; and he had been adjusting badly. He hadn't changed at all. He was still bouncing at clubs, only now it wasn't a cover for his other activities. It was his job; and it was boring. But what else was there? How did he start again, when he'd never really had the chance to start at all?

Cool arms encircled his waist, almost causing him to start. Lei Fang laid her head in the space between his shoulder blades. He shuddered as her hair fell forward onto his back, so soft and cool.

"That's why... that's why you stopped fighting." she said quietly, "I had Hitomi and the others look for you at the usual tourneys, but you didn't show. We were all worried." even softer, "I was worried."

He turned, careful not to break the circle of her arms. Thunder and storm railed outside the window, casting fractured light on them both as he held her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into that beautiful hair of hers, "I just..."

He almost didn't understand why she was so accepting, but when she looked up at him like that. He just didn't care. Instead he brought his mouth to hers...

And didn't bother calling out from work.

Lei Fang woke to sunlight streaming through the curtainless window. The pounding coming from the other side of the vast concrete space confirmed why the spot next to her on the futon was bare. Shifting groggily, she pulled the white sheet around her as she rose to approach the punching bag and the man wailing on it.

"Yes." Jann Lee said as she drew level with him, he didn't slow down or break his rhythm, but there was a self satisfied smirk that grew on his face as he noticed Lei wrapped up in the sheet.

"Hmmm?" She chirped, watching him weave and bob could be trance inducing, "Yes, what?"

"To your offer... from last night."

"You mean your interested?" She wasn't sure when she offered if he would accept. He had never been one to be tied down, and they hadn't really discussed the offer fully. They had...other things...on their minds at the moment.

"With some conditions." he slowed, stopped and turned to grab the towel on the window ledge behind him.

"I'd still be allowed to compete whenever I wanted, at any time during the year."

She nodded.

"I occasionally did some work for Ryu, between the circuit and sabotaging the Snakes. He's been offering me more. I'd like to take some of it."

Lei frowned. She hadn't know that. It explained a lot though. Ryu had come to check up on her several times throughout the year. She of course been grateful for his concern, but he was nothing more than acquaintance, she didn't understand why she merited the special attention.

Now she knew.

"What kind of work?" she asked.

"Nothing I can't handle." he answered, and sighed at her frown. He had promised there would be no more secrets between the two of them. No more protecting her without letting her know what she was being protected from. And no more taking risks without explaining. It was a sacrifice, he knew, but watching Lei Fang watch him with that look on her face, he knew it would be worth it.

"Information mostly. It's not very dangerous."

Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "So long as you tell me where I can reach you. It's fine."

"Bai, Ah Gao and some of the guys from the old days, we've been teaching some of the kids here how to stand up for themselves. Some of them are good, they could benefit from proper training. If you'll allow any of my students and friends here to train at your dojo, I'll accept your teaching job."

She nodded, beaming brighter than the sun permeating the room. "Of course! Grandfather will be thrilled! When can you come to Shanghai?"

"Tomorrow, if you like. I have to make some calls." he took a large gulp from his water bottle, "and I want to show you something."

"Hmmm..." she asked, walking towards the futon, Jann watched her go, fully appreciating how much the sheet was slipping down her backside. "What's that?"

"You'll see." he said as he followed her.

Several hours later, Lei Fang found herself in a semi-rural area on the mainland, overlooking the urban metropolis. Jann seemed to know the area well, he walked purposefully through the town and to a small plot of land that at first glance appeared to be untouched. Then she noticed the spires.

Memorial markers. This was a graveyard.

"Today is Lao's anniversary " Jann said, kneeling at a marker to clear off the dirt and moss on the stone.

This was where he had gone all those weeks he had disappeared; to Lao's grave.

As he began to speak to the marker, explaining why he wouldn't be around as much, Lei could have sworn she heard Lao's laughter and felt his smile. She turned her face up to the hot blue sky above them.

Maybe it was just the sunshine.

Jann turned to take her hand and she gripped tight as she always had. A dragon girl who would not let go of what she wanted, holding tight to the phoenix boy who was learning to start anew.

And for the first time in a long time, all was well.


End file.
